The money will help communities through the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, says the insurer
By Miles Hadfield, the Co-op News
The mutual, based in Stratford upon Avon, Warkwickshire., which underwrites more than £1.5bn in annual premium in life and general insurance lines for UK rural communities, says the pledge is “a response to the ongoing challenges faced by communities across the country”.
Breaking down the sum, it will donate £1.92m to local front-line charities through its Agency Giving Fund, launched in 2020 in response to the pandemic. Its 300 locations around the country will once be invited to nominate local charities to receive a share of the fund.
Another £1m goes to the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, an independent charity set up in 1998 “to support other charities and organisations working in the interests of agriculture, rural communities and the countryside”.
Since it was founded, the Trust has distributed donations totalling £6m, going to projects in education, research, social welfare and poverty relief. NFU Mutual says £2m of this funding has gone to charities and communities during the pandemic over the last two years following enhanced donations from NFU Mutual.
Alongside this, the insurer committed £30,000 to a new Community Champions scheme, for staff fundraising events and initiatives.
The £3.25m funding is completed with a £300,000 donation to the Farm Safety Foundation, an independent registered charity founded and funded by NFU Mutual. The Foundation works with partners and stakeholders nationally and internationally to help raise awareness of, and address the attitudes and behaviours around, risk-taking and poor mental health in the agricultural sector.
Group CEO Nick Turner said: “NFU Mutual is committed to making a positive impact through its charitable giving programme. Helping our members in times of need and supporting communities has always been at the very heart of our approach. We increased our charitable giving during 2020 and 2021 to assist frontline charities during the pandemic, and we recognise the importance of extending our heightened support into next year to help tackle the ongoing challenges of the crisis and to aid recovery.
“Our charitable giving programme in 2022 will aim to champion the causes that are working day and night to change people’s lives and give hope for a better future.”