E.ON volunteers help get Warwick’s Red Balloon centre for children off the ground

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E.ON UK Press Releases

05 July 2011 13:12
E.ON volunteers help get Warwick’s Red Balloon centre for children off the ground

A group of enthusiastic volunteers from E.ON's Coventry HQ spent a day putting the finishing touches to Warwick's Red Balloon Learner Centre.

The team weeded and dug the garden to clear the area ready for the children to start planting. They cleared the paths and trimmed hedges as well as varnishing the garden benches.

Red Balloon Learner Centres provide a safe environment for children and young people who have missed out on their education because they were bullied, allowing them to learn and to recover from their experience.

Stuart Turner, E.ON employee and the challenge team leader, said: "The challenge was hard work but great fun, especially as the weather was on our side.  There was a real buzz about the team during the day, which has continued since.  It was a pleasure to support a truly worthwhile cause."

Speaking on behalf of Red Balloon, Vivienne Morgan said: "The E.ON team was absolutely fabulous.  The amount they achieved during the day was astonishing and has meant that the new children coming to the centre will be able to start working in the garden straight away, planting and growing vegetables.  The work would have taken us months and months to achieve, so thank you E.ON."

E.ON finds volunteering opportunities for employees across the UK, working with schools, older people and other vulnerable groups as part of its wider community relations programme. In 2010, E.ON employees spent almost 7,000 hours volunteering in their local communities.

Across Europe, E.ON's employees are supporting the European Commission and UN 2011 European Year of Volunteering through the company's volunteering programmes.

Ends

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 12,000 people in the UK and over 85,000 worldwide.
• E.ON has just been named as one of only 41 UK companies to be awarded the CommunityMark - a national standard of excellence in community investment;
• The Red Balloon centre in Warwick is large family home donated to the charity by Vivienne Morgan.

For more information contact:

Victoria Blake at E.ON on 02476 181304

-- Posted by Red Balloon - Warwick on 8th July 2011 --