St Helena’s Hospice, based in Highwoods, Colchester, has been selected by Cadent’s East of England employees to receive a minimum of £10,000 per year for the next two years through the Cadent Foundation Community Fund.
The Community Fund, created in partnership with the Cadent Foundation in 2024, enables and encourages Cadent’s 6,000+ employees to fundraise for local charities that mean something to them.
St Helena Hospice was nominated as a chosen charity by Mandy Franklin, a Technical Support Administrator for Cadent based in nearby Marks Tey. Employees from around the East of England network submitted their votes with St Helena Hospice receiving the largest numbers.
St Helena helps the people of North East Essex to face incurable illness and bereavement, supporting them, their families and carers, at home, over the phone through its SinglePoint 24/7 advice line, and at the hospice. It also helps adults who have been bereaved, regardless of how or where their loved one died, as well as providing bereavement support for children.
The hospice provides 24-hour specialist care from an experienced team of qualified staff and volunteers for local people who have complex needs that cannot be managed at home. More information about the hospice and the services that it offers are available at sthelena.org.uk.
Mandy said: My sister and I received grief counselling from St Helena after our parents passed, and the service that they offer is just brilliant. I’d supported them through a previous employer, so when the opportunity arose to do something at Cadent, I knew that they were a charity who would really benefit from our support and I’m glad my colleagues agreed!
Co-CEO of St Helena Hospice, Kate Heslegrave, added: We are delighted to have been selected by Cadent as their chosen charity partner for the next two years. This last year we supported over 3,000 patients and 850 families and Cadent’s support will help us achieve our goal of being there for even more people who need our support. We look forward to building a strong partnership and are proud to have them as a supporter.
Other charities were selected by Cadent’s workforce across its five operational networks, which cover the East of England, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, and North London. Staff at Cadent’s largest office in Coventry also nominated an additional charity to receive funding.
Speaking about the partnership, Vicky Grieve, Network Director for Cadent in the East of England, said: We're incredibly proud to have selected St Helena Hospice as our charity partner for the next two years. The outstanding care and compassion this organisation provides to people across Colchester and North East Essex is something our whole team deeply admires.
As well as donating £10,000 this year and again next year, our colleagues will be rolling up their sleeves for fundraising activities and using their volunteering days to support the hospice directly. It's a partnership we're truly excited about, and we can't wait to get stuck in.
Pictures show colleagues from St Helena Hospice and Cadent
The Cadent Foundation was established in July 2019 with Cadent committing one per cent of annual post tax profits each year to the Foundation. Our aim is to help households find sustainable solutions to fuel poverty and ensure people are safe and warm in their homes. We work with charitable organisations to help households improve their financial wellbeing and become more energy efficient through advice, support and practical measures.
The funds of the Cadent Foundation are administered by Charities Trust (Charity Registration No: 327489) who will manage the grant giving and ensure that all grants donated by the Cadent Foundation are only used to further charitable purposes for the public benefit.
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