United Utilities plans £250,000 fundraising splash for new charity partner Macmillan

United Utilities employees have chosen Macmillan Cancer Support to be the company’s official charity.

The water company has now entered into a three-year partnership with Macmillan, aimed at raising £250,000 as well as helping provide even better services for customers.

Laura Whittle, Head of Employee Engagement, is managing the partnership on behalf of United Utilities and she explained: “Just about everyone knows someone affected by cancer, and when we put the choice of company charity to our employees it was a huge thumbs up for Macmillan.

“I know our people are going to pull out all the stops to do some amazing fundraising for this very important cause here in the North West.”

The new fundraising initiative was launched with an awareness campaign, followed by a “Go Mad Go Green” event. Macmillan’s new Mobile Information and Support Service team and their bus, called Basil, have also visited the company’s head office to provide free and confidential advice about cancer.

The Warrington-based FTSE 100 company has around 5,000 staff who have already staged Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning and an annual charity golf day. There are plenty of other exciting employee-led, and centrally organised, fundraising events in the pipeline.

All funds raised from the charity partnership will be restricted to the North West, which means United Utilities will help support people living with cancer right across the region they operate in.

United Utilities runs a committed service aimed at giving extra help and support to those customers in the North West who need it most, known as Priority Services. The hope is that through working together with Macmillan, that service could be improved even further.

Jane Melvin, Macmillan’s Head of Service for the North West, added: “It’s fantastic to have such a major employer like United Utilities working in partnership with Macmillan to help us support people affected by cancer.

“I’m sure United Utilities will tap into their employee’s imaginations and come up with some inspiring fundraising activities over the next three years and will easily reach their £250,000 target which will help us make a difference to the lives of people living with cancer across the North West.”

Over 40,000 customers have already signed up for United Utilities’ Priority Services scheme. It is open to anyone that could find themselves in vulnerable circumstances. This could be due to age, ill-health, a disability, mental health problems, financial worries or even language barriers.

For more information, call 0345 072 6093 or visit the priority services section of our website.