31
December
2014
|
23:00
Europe/London

BT volunteers win grants of up to £1000 for East of England organisations

Worthy causes in Hemsby, Ipswich, Cambridge, Peterborough and Hemsby included in BT People Awards

Seven organisations in the East of England have received grants of up to £1,000 from BT to help them continue with their excellent work in the community.
They are Save Hemsby Coastline, which received £1,000; Orwell District Scouts, which was given £700; Suffolk Constabulary £700; Heathlands Community Pre-School £500; Leighton United FC in Tilsworth £500; Peterborough Northern Star Blue £500 sport voucher and NCI Youth Section in Cambridge £500 sport voucher.
The grants were awarded through the company’s employee recognition scheme, the BT People Awards. The scheme recognises and rewards BT’s volunteering heroes, who offer their time and skills to help people in their local communities, by providing grants to organisations in which they are involved.
Dave Hughes, BT’s East of England regional director, said: “The People Awards acknowledges the time and commitment that BT people in the East of England are giving to the local community groups for which they volunteer.”
Save Hemsby Coastline received its award as a result of the volunteering work of Ian Brennan, a BT manager who works from home at Elstree in Hertfordshire.
Ian, is currently the chairman of Save Hemsby Coastline charity, having joined the organisation when it was formed after the storm surge which hit the east coast of the UK on December 5th 2013. The charity has taken ownership of the problem of Hemsby which has no sea defence, and to try and save Hemsby from further erosion and risk by raising funds to put defences in place.
“The award from BT means a lot to the charity, said Ian, we have spent the summer fundraising, we have an e-Shop selling merchandise, and lots of community led events Every penny we raise will go into the pot to keep Hemsby, its incredible community and its contribution to Norfolk’s economy where it is.
“The night of the surge was an epiphany for me, I saw people risk life and limb trying to pull others out of houses as they went over the edge, spontaneous acts of courage and selflessness.”

Four hundred and fifty one applications were received for this round of grants and 84 applicants received awards totalling £50,980.
Applications were submitted by BT people from all over the world including Peru, India and Belgium. These included a wide range of community organisations from football clubs to police cadets to red squirrel protection, illustrating the wide variety of activities in which BT people are involved.
For more information and to see a complete list of the latest award recipients please visit: www.btpeopleawards.co.uk or see what BT can do to help charities by visiting: www.bt.com/charityportfolio.
ENDS
For further information please contact the BT regional press office on 0800 085 0660.

The East of England winners are:
• Leighton United FC, Bedfordshire, LU79PL £500
• Peterborough Northern Star Blue, PE1 4PE £500
• NCI Youth Section, Cambridge, CB3 9AQ £500
• Suffolk Constabulary, Suffolk IP5 3QS £700
• Heathlands Community Pre-School, Ipswich, IP4 5XD £500
• Save Hemsby Coastline, NR29 4JG £1000
• Orwell District Scouts, Boyton, IP12 3LW £700