Western Morning News

Trust tops £1m of support for charities

- Athwenna.irons@reachplc.com

FARMING charities including the Addington Fund and National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) are to benefit from the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust’s latest round of donations.

With one in 10 UK charities facing bankruptcy this year, according to analysis by Pro Bono Economics, at the end of the year it donated a further £235,000 to support ten UK charities.

This takes the Trust’s total donations to £1,092,500 in 2020, with 20 organisati­ons receiving funding over the year. The increased donations were made possible by an additional £750,000 pledge from leading rural insurer NFU Mutual, aiming to help charities maintain resilience during the pandemic.

Lindsay Sinclair, group chief executive of NFU Mutual, said: “In The Charitable Trust’s biggest year for donations since it was establishe­d in 1998, NFU Mutual is proud to have supported causes across all corners of the UK which are changing lives and giving hope for a better future.

“While many fundraisin­g events have had to be side-lined this year, the demand for these charities’ services has grown. We want to help them meet that need and build resilience for the future, maintainin­g practical and emotional support for our communitie­s at a time which is proving especially difficult.”

So far this year, funding from the

NFU Mutual Charitable Trust has helped to support a range of initiative­s, including projects that tackle isolation, support mental health and wellbeing, and enrich young lives through agricultur­al education and innovation.

The impacts of these initiative­s have included: support for 523 households from RSABI (Royal Scottish Agricultur­al Benevolent Institutio­n), support provided over one million times by Samaritans via phone, email and letters, and 16,309 hours of continual profession­al developmen­t for teachers delivered by LEAF Education.

The charities set to benefit from the latest donations are: Addington Fund; LEAF Education; National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC); Open Farm Weekend NI; Prince’s Countrysid­e Fund (PCF); Royal Agricultur­al Benevolent Institutio­n (RABI); RSABI; Rural Support, Samaritans and YFCU.

The donations have already been made available, allowing the charities to continue to provide crucial support services after difficult year which has seen many of their usual fundraisin­g activities cancelled.

 ??  ?? LEAF Education’s work is supported by the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust
LEAF Education’s work is supported by the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust

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