National Express Employee Charity Panel Keeps on Giving

The National Express Employee Charity Panel has donated £5,500 to nearly 30 different UK groups and charities during the first half of 2016.

Bus, coach and rail employees that are actively involved with UK organisations such as The Archie Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, Down’s Syndrome Association, and Tettenhall Horse Sanctuary successfully applied to the National Express Employee Charity Panel to request a donation on the back of voluntary work that they personally do to help raise money for their chosen charities or groups.

Employees provide support in their own time and in a range of different ways. Trevor Sale is a team leader in the bus division’s trim shop and goes along to weekly training sessions with Warwickshire Bears Wheelchair Basketball Academy. Although he does not play himself, he goes along to sessions each week and uses his work-based skills to repair player's equipment and wheelchairs.

The Employee Charity Panel was so impressed with Trevor’s commitment that they donated £250 towards the Bears Academy. On hearing that he had successfully secured a donation, Trevor said, “I am so so grateful for the Charity Panel’s kind donation. I try to service and repair equipment and wheelchairs to save the Warwickshire Bears some money as a new wheelchair can cost around £3,000. The Panel’s £250 donation will help children and adults to continue playing wheelchair basketball as they can source some much needed new equipment. I can't thank you enough for your support!”

Team PA Wai Thomas is based at the National Express head office in Birmingham. She used her organisational skills to round up bakers and tasters in a charity cake sale, raising over £230 for Marie Curie Hospice. The Employee Charity Panel donated a further £250 to recognise Wai and her team of 11 bakers’ efforts.

Wai was thrilled to find out about the Panel’s donation and couldn’t wait to let her husband know, “This charity is hugely important to me as my late father-in-law was cared for at the Marie Curie Hospice before he passed away last year. The support we received at the time - and to date - is hugely humbling and we have committed to giving something back. We aren’t able to volunteer at the hospice ourselves but help raise money with cake sales, sponsored bike rides and fun runs.”

The National Express Employee Charity Panel supports employees in their own charitable work. The Panel is made up of staff from around the National Express business who meet quarterly to review employee applications and decide which good causes they will support. Since it was launched in 2009 the Panel has awarded over £106,000 to charities and groups supported by employees throughout the UK.