WPD pledges support for the UK Coronavirus response

Local authorities, parish councils, charities and community groups are being encouraged to apply for extra financial support from us as we launch our ‘In This Together - Community Matters Fund’ today.

This £500k fund intends to support communities affected by the coronavirus outbreak within our operating region, by helping local organisations to deliver vital support and services directly people in vulnerable situations.

Phil Swift, WPD Chief Executive, said: “Today I’m delighted to announce we are launching WPD’s ‘In This Together - Community Matters’ fund. We are establishing this with £500k to directly support community organisations who are working at the grassroots, helping families and our customers who need extra care throughout the coronavirus pandemic. I’m pleased that we will be able to offer much needed financial support to enable key service partners to deliver vital support to people at this time, from food drop-offs to befriending services for those living in isolation alone.”

“In this fast-moving situation, we are stepping-up to help our communities and in particular customers in vulnerable situations who are impacted by the consequences of the Coronavirus. As a company we already support our most vulnerable customers through our Priority Services Register. We’ll be working closely with local authorities in our region to utilise this data to help them deliver direct services to those that are most in need at this time. In addition, we already operate a number of schemes to support customers living in cold homes and struggling to afford their energy bills, working with a range of partner agencies. These projects have been adapted over the past weeks to help to respond to this crisis.”

“We look forward to hearing from local organisations with ideas of how our funding could help them to extend their support.”

We have reinforced our commitment to supporting staff, customers and the community by joining forces with major businesses across the UK to sign up to the C-19 Business Pledge, which aims to harness the power of business as a force for good in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic.

Phil added: “We will continue to play a vital role in the UK’s coronavirus response over the weeks and months ahead. WPD employs over 6,500 staff across the regions we serve. Colleagues from every strand of our business have been working around the clock to put new processes, provisions and supplies in place to ensure we keep our teams safe and well whilst continuing to deliver the services our communities and critical service providers such as the NHS, depend upon. I thank each and every one of the WPD team for their commitment, dedication and hard work as we help to keep Britain’s energy flowing.”

Our commitments at WPD are to:

• Support our employees through this challenging time and beyond
• Publish clear and simple advice for customers, including Q&As and clarity on essential works
• Support communities through the pandemic
• Provide local authorities and resilience forums with support to help the targeting of services
• Coordinate and fund over 50 existing partner agencies to deliver coronavirus support to vulnerable people living in isolation
• Proactively contact vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register to offer advice and reassurance

More details on how to apply for the ‘In This Together Community Fund’ can be found here.