Member Article

Home fuel business boosted by cash donation

A family run company that tackles fuel poverty in County Durham has been gifted £1,000 by a leading regional builder.

The donation to Warm Age Wood Company comes from Persimmon Homes Durham and its Community Champions scheme, which provides financial support to deserving organisations across the region.

Warm Age is a community interest company, which redistributes fuel to those in need. Donated fuel is funded from people who buy Warm-Age’s packaged briquettes for solid fuel stoves across the local area. For every ten packs purchased, the company gives away one free pack to local people in need.

The company also has a network of knitters to help fund some of the fuel for people in need. The knitters create woollens that are sold to raise money as well as giving the people the opportunity to meet up and knit. This gives people the warmth of human contact as well as being valued in the community for their knitting skills.

“People living in the Durham Dales can often live miles from their nearest neighbour, and many are on low incomes,” said Gerardine O’Connor, secretary for the Warm Age Wood Company. “This generous donation from Persimmon will go a long way in helping these people keep warm through the winter and help us buy more wool and fund transportation costs.”

Christine Cooper, sales and marketing director for Persimmon Homes Durham, said: “We are delighted to support the Warm Age Wood Company as we know that funding can be difficult to source, so it’s fantastic that we can offer financial assistance.

“We were very impressed with their application and hope that our donation will allow the company to continue their good work, by donating more briquettes to vulnerable members of our society.”

The Persimmon Community Champions scheme is a national programme where clubs, groups and good causes can apply for funding up to the value of £1,000 to match money they have already raised themselves. Nationwide the company will donate a total of £750,000.

Christine said: “We’ve made it really simple to apply for funding, and we’re now urging people to apply for next month’s allocation by completing a form at www.persimmonhomes.com.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lee Southen .