- National Grid employees donate bras to help beat breast cancer
- Former Mis-Teeq singer Alesha Dixon hands over her bra
- Post room swamped by bras of all sizes
National Grid employees have swung into action to donate their bras to help beat breast cancer. They’ve handed in their underwear as part of the Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer campaign.
Hundreds of the donated bras will be used as “bunting” at Star City, the entertainments complex in Birmingham, on 29 May before being wrapped up and sent abroad to help other women.
The campaign had a celebrity start when Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon handed in her bra live on-air at the Free Radio Studios in Birmingham. Alesha said: “It’s amazing. So many women have bras they don’t use, and this is a great cause.” A National Grid employee heard the appeal and suggested at work that that it was something to be involved in. An email was sent out urging staff to donate their bras and drop them into a box near the post room. The response was immediate.
The post room soon looked more like a lingerie shop after 154 bras of all sizes were donated. One employee joked: “It was impossible to find my tea cup amongst all the B and C cups!”. Staff at National Grid Warwick also joined in the donate-a-bra campaign. Tanya Hutchinson, the National Grid organiser, said: “As always, it’s been a tremendous response from employees at National Grid Hinckley.
‘Many of our staff have had their lives touched in some way by breast cancer. Every year in the UK 55,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer and 12,000 die of the disease so it’s important that we help educate people about this serious issue.”
National Grid already has a strong partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support. National Grid employees have voted Macmillan as their chosen charity.
The company intends to raise £500,000 for the charity over the next two years. National Grid is also looking to provide 2,500 emergency fuel grants to people who have cancer. Macmillan improves the lives of people affected by cancer by providing practical, medical and financial support.
Notes to editors - archive
National Grid is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world and was named Responsible Business of the Year 2014 by Business in the Community. This accolade acknowledges all of our efforts in getting involve with the things that really matter to us and to society. We own and manage the grids that connect people to the energy they need, from whatever the source. In Britain and the north-eastern states of the US we run systems that deliver gas and electricity to millions of people, businesses and communities.
In Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country. In the North Eastern US, we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles.
National Grid in the UK:
- We own the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales, operating it across Great Britain
- We own and operate the high pressure gas transmission system in Britain
- Our gas distribution business delivers gas to 10.9 million homes and businesses
- We also own a number of related businesses including LNG importation, land remediation and metering
- National Grid manages the National Gas Emergency Service free phone line on behalf of the industry - 0800 111 999 (all calls are recorded and may be monitored).
- Our portfolio of other businesses is mainly concerned with infrastructure provision and related services where we can exploit our core skills and assets to create value. These businesses operate in areas such as Metering, Grain LNG Import, Interconnectors and Property. National Grid Carbon Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Grid. It undertakes Carbon Capture Storage related activities on behalf of National Grid.
Find out more about the energy challenge and how National Grid is helping find solutions to some of the challenges we face at www.nationalgridconnecting.com
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