21 July 2010 12:05
Kent hospice receives funding for sensory equipment thanks to E.ON employee

EllenorLions Hospices in Northfleet has been awarded a grant of almost £2,000 from E.ON's Employee Community Fund, courtesy of E.ON employee Kevin Braine.

EllenorLions Hospices is a local charity which provides care for adults and young people with cancer and other progressive, life threatening illnesses.

The grant will be used to buy sensory equipment incorporating different sights, sounds and colours to help stimulate patients with sensory and neurological impairment.

Kevin's wife was a volunteer at one of the hospice shops until she unfortunately became a patient herself. She sadly died a week after hearing the grant application had been successful.

Kevin, who works as an engineer at E.ON's Kingsnorth Power Station, visited the hospice earlier this week to present them with the cheque donation from E.ON.

"We were delighted to hear that the Employee Community Fund application had been successful," said Kevin.

"The staff at EllenorLions are a compassionate group of people; many of them are volunteers who work tirelessly to put others before themselves.

"The hospice has cared for my mother and my wife and I'm very proud to be able to present them with this cheque.

"The support EllenorLions Hospices provides is wonderful and, thanks to E.ON, the new sensory equipment will go on to enhance many patients experience."

Tracie Dempster, Head of our Children's and Young People's Service for EllenorLions Hospices, said: "EllenorLions Hospices relies heavily on the generosity of our supporters and we're incredibly grateful to both Kevin and E.ON for this donation.

"The new sensory equipment which can be taken into homes will prove a valuable resource. Many of our children are too ill to travel so it will make a huge difference to be able to take the ‘sensory room' to them."

The E.ON Employee Community fund invites applications from employees based in the UK for funding of up to £2,000 for charities and community organisations that support education projects or vulnerable consumers.

Ends

Notes to editors:

• At E.ON, we recognise that many of our colleagues have charities that hold particular importance for them and our Employee Community Fund is a great way for us to help our employees raise funds for those charities;
• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 16,000 people in the UK and more than 88,000 worldwide;
• E.ON's retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK with around 5.5 million electricity and gas customers, covering domestic, SME and industrial;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 20 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We also burn biomass material mixed with coal in two of our power stations and have completed one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester.

For more information contact:

Victoria Blake on 02476 181304