Call centre charity cash donations top £10,000

Charity cash being distributed to worthy causes by key workers at United Utilities call centres has topped £10,000.

The donations are part of a morale-boosting move by managers keen to keep up the team spirits of staff, most of whom are working from home, during lockdown.

Each of United Utilities’ two call centres in Warrington and Whitehaven, Cumbria, nominates a local charity close to the hearts of staff working there. The charity gets a £500 weekly cheque plus whatever staff can raise themselves.

It’s long been a traditional at the call centres to raise money for a different charity every week.

So far a total of 16 charities have received cash totalling £10,593, and the figure is still rising every week.

• Whitehaven Hospital
• Warrington Foodbank
• Mirehouse Residents Group
• Halton Haven Hospice, Runcorn
• Age UK West Cumbria
• ScrubHub
• Carla Lane Animal Hospital, Liverpool
• Jack’s Journey
• Alder Hey Children’s Charity, Liverpool
• Hospice at Home West Cumbria
• Willowbrook Hospice, Prescot, Merseyside
• North Lakes Foodbank
• Liverpool Women’s Charity
• Whitehaven Community First Responders
• The Lilac Centre, at St Helens Hospital
• West Cumbria Carers

United Utilities call centres deal with thousands of customer queries and staff there are key workers, not least because they support customers through difficult times, offering payment breaks on their bills, or signposting them to one of the company’s many assistance schemes.