Agents and staff at NFU Mutual agencies across the UK have nominated more than 300 charities across the country in 2024 to receive a total donation of GBP 1.92million from NFU Mutual’s national ‘Agency Giving Fund’.

The Fund forms part of ICMIF member NFU Mutual’s GBP 3.25m funding pledge for both local and national charities in 2024 to assist with the ongoing recovery from the pandemic and the impact of the rising cost of living. It is now in its fifth year, and NFU Mutual says it is proud to have distributed a total of GBP 8.76m to champion the vital work of small, local, charities all across the UK.

To ensure these donations reached all corners of the UK, all NFU Mutual Agencies – with more than 280 offices nationwide – were given the opportunity to nominate charities to receive a share of the Fund.

The Fund has proven hugely popular with the agencies, with 100% of agency businesses putting forward their local charities for a donation since nominations opened in March.

A total of 59% of the fund (GBP 1,139,075) has been donated to charities providing emotional and social support. One such cause is Llanfair Caereinion Public Hall, which was nominated by the Llanfair Caereinion office. The donation will help fund the local community café, improve the kitchen facilities and buy new equipment to help run the hot meals.

Ruth Bates, one of the café leaders, said: “We are so thankful to the Llanfair Caereinion branch of NFU Mutual for their generous donation. The money will be used to enhance the facilities in the kitchen upstairs and the youth room in the Institute so that all users and groups can benefit from the investment.”

More than GBP 647,645 has been directed to charities providing healthcare, including 36 nominations for local community hospices and 23 nominations for air ambulance charities. League of Friends of Launceston Hospital received a donation thanks to a nomination by the Launceston Agency.

Lisa Dymond, Chair and Trustee at The League of Friends of Launceston Hospital and Community, said: “We want to thank everyone at NFU Mutual for this significant donation, especially the Launceston Team for considering the League of Friends at this time. We have recently received a request to purchase a hoist and a couple of air mattresses for the hospital, so this generous donation will go towards acquiring these items.”

The remaining funds, just over GBP 133,434, were given to charities providing emergency food supplies and shelter, such as foodbanks.

Towcester Food Larder is one such example and was nominated by the Brackley Agency (see image above). The charity receives food from NFU Mutual’s national corporate charity partner FareShare. It helps local residents that have been affected by the rising cost of living, by allowing them to buy food at a heavily reduced prices and also saving produce going to land fill.

Susan Litster, Office Manager at NFU Mutual Brackley Agency, said: “This donation will help the charity to continue to provide this great service, they are continuously having to replace fridges and freezers so this will take a lot of pressure of the volunteers who work so hard to help the community.”

Gary Thomson, Head of Agency at NFU Mutual, added: “Thank you to Agents and their staff for their fantastic support, once again. We’re very grateful for their time to make the charity nominations. Their local knowledge is directing the funding to make a positive impact on our customers and our communities.”