I was delighted to be invited to become a Trustee and Executive Officer of the new Scottish Power foundation last year and to be involved in establishing this new initiative. My background before joining ScottishPower was in the voluntary sector so I was able to use some of that experience to help develop the new foundation.
The foundation was established in May, 2013 and is an independent charity with the majority of trustees coming from out with the business and with expertise in education, energy and sustainability. The foundation’s overall remit is to benefit communities and covers a wide range of support from arts and culture to poverty and disadvantage. One of the first tasks of the foundation was to confirm its support to 15 projects across Britain covering a wide range of causes and helping charities provide direct help in some of the country’s poorest communities.
We then set up an application process for 2014 and received over 140 requests for support and funded 22 projects including the Duke of Edinburgh Awards which recently celebrated young people achieving their gold certificates at St James’s Palace from the Duke of Edinburgh himself. This was a very proud moment for these young people and a tremendous achievement which they will remember for the rest of their lives. The programme itself has been able to help thousands of young people across Britain who would not have been able to participate if it wasn’t for the ScottishPower Foundation. I was proud to be with them and share their special day.
Another very special day for me was attending the Your Heroes event in January. This event recognises the achievements of local people for outstanding work in their community. Nominees and Award Winners attended the Ceremony to help celebrate the passion, courage, quiet dignity and selfless acts undertaken to enrich the lives of others. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as the true heroes of Southport and the surrounding areas were announced. Awards were given to 2 young boys who saved their classmate from drowning and to a couple who set up a community club that now boasts 100 players. I also learned about a senior citizen who saved the life of a farmer who had been injured by machinery. There were many more winners, all worthy of their award and I was amazed at the courage of so many people.
The National library of Wales are also being funded by the ScottishPower Foundation and I visited them a few weeks ago to hear about the work that they are doing in local schools to promote the work of the library, museum and art galleries. Social inclusion is important to the library, founded in 1907 which has an unique collection of welsh artefacts including manuscripts , art and books. They are aware that not everyone, especially primary school pupils can access their facilities, due to costs and travel issues. However as part of a UK wide “Your Painting” a selected school decided to abandon their school timetable for a week, supported by the library education department, and enjoyed lessons and talks about art and great artists. The pupils of a primary school in Cardiff were amazed that at the end of the week when one of the paintings they had been discussing -Turners “Dolbadarn Castle” was brought into the school hall for the children to see!
Later this month I will be speaking to the first 60 young people from schools across Glasgow who will “graduate” at Strathclyde University after completing modules to help encourage them to consider going on to further education and reaching their full potential.
Every day is different and I enjoy being able to visit so many different projects across Britain and hearing about the good work that’s happening thanks to the support from the ScottishPower Foundation.
