Each year the Leeds, Shotton and Teesside sites of GDF SUEZ Energy UK nominate a local charity to support for a year. This year’s selected charities are:
Leeds – Yorkshire Cancer Research
Yorkshire Cancer Research’s mission is to promote research, principally in Yorkshire, into the cause and cure of cancer and to publish and share the results of this research with the world’s scientific community for the benefit of mankind. They do this by fundraising in Yorkshire and providing grants to Yorkshire academic institutions. Their aim is to fund specialists and expertise in the region so that cancer sufferers in Yorkshire and throughout the world have access to some of the best treatments and therapies.
Shotton – Wales Air Ambulance
Wales Air Ambulance is an all Wales charity providing a vital service through emergency air cover for those who face life-threatening illness or injuries. Due to its widely scattered population and diverse landscape, many in Wales live in isolated locations far from an accident and emergency service. Also, the ever increasing problem of traffic congestion and collisions in more urban areas denotes delayed response times for land ambulances. For these reasons, there is a recognised need for three helicopters on active duty 365 days a year.
Teesside – Children’s Cancer Fund
The Children’s Cancer Fund charity was set up many years ago to process unsolicited donations which were received, largely from families and friends of children being treated in the children’s cancer unit in the Royal Victoria Infirmary. The charity was subsequently registered with the Charity Commission in 1992. The unit cares for all children from the North of England who get cancer. Approximately 100 new children each year come from an area extending from Berwick to Teesside and across to the West Coast, to include Whitehaven in Cumbria.