Keeping Us Connected: Drax donates energy to care homes

Drax has agreed to cancel the gas and electricity bills for 170 small cares homes supplied by its subsidiaries Opus Energy and Haven Power for a period of two months.

All are located nearby to its sites in England, Scotland and Wales.

The group is also donating £150,000 to the Money Advice Trust’s Business Debtline to help small and medium enterprises facing financial difficulties. The support package will be worth £636,000 in total.

Chief executive Will Gardiner said: “We’re working hard to offer more support to our customers and communities during this crisis.

“Care homes are critically important – they do incredible work looking after some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and we know this pandemic is putting them under immense pressure. As a gesture of appreciation for the excellent work these businesses are doing, we’re cancelling their energy bills for a couple of months.

“We know it’s not just care homes – a lot of businesses are having a tough time, as the lockdown is having a major impact on many different sectors, so we’ve donated £150,000 to the Money Advice Trust’s Business Debtline too. This will help to ensure those small businesses who may be struggling to pay their bills can access the advice and support they need.”

Joanne Taylor, home manager at the Lindsey Hall Care Home in Cleethorpes, said: “Our teams are working very hard in some really challenging circumstances at the moment.

“Not having to pay our energy bills for two months means we’ve one less thing to worry about and we can also redirect the money we would have spent on energy, to source more PPE, which will help to keep our carers and the people they look after, safe.

“We really appreciate this kind gesture from Haven Power.”