Drax gives £636,000 support to ease crisis over Covid

The firm, which owns and operates the power station in North Yorkshire, has donated £636,000 to customers and communities in Yorkshire and other parts of the UK.

As part of the measures, the UK’s largest power station has donated laptops with pre-paid internet access to schools and colleges across the region.

The firm has also given free energy to a number of Yorkshire care homes and support has been provided for businesses facing financial hardship as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

The group also lit one of its cooling towers in blue every Thursday in honour of the NHS.

Drax Group’s CEO, Will Gardiner, said: “Generating the power the country needs whilst supporting our employees, customers and communities is at the core of what we do and who we are as a business.

“Drax has a long tradition of helping people local to our operations, which we’re very proud of. The challenges our people and the communities we operate in have faced this year have been unprecedented and so we’ve tried to step up and do more to help them.”

Drax said the closure of schools and the need to turn homes into classrooms was one of the biggest challenges for families during the lockdown. It said that with children depending on technology and the internet for their education, there was a very real chance those without access would fall behind.

Recognising the long term risk this posed to some students’ futures, Drax donated £250,000 to buy 853 new laptops, each with three months of pre-paid internet access, and delivered them to schools and colleges local to its sites across the UK – more than 450 of which were delivered to 20 schools and colleges across Yorkshire.

Ian Clennan, head teacher at Selby Community Primary School in North Yorkshire, said: “The donation of laptops from Drax made a huge difference to the lives of our pupils who did not have access to the internet at home.

“It helped ensure no-one was left behind in their studies during the lockdown, and it also kept the school community connected while we were forced to be apart.”

The power station near Selby is deemed critical national infrastructure, producing enough renewable electricity for four million households.

Drax said it had to suspend its free educational tours and work experience placements as part of measures to minimise the risk of the disease being spread to its key workers, who are essential to the safe running of the power station.

In normal times, 12,000 people a year visit Drax Power Station to take part in free tours as part of the company’s efforts to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects and boost education and skills within its communities.

To ensure students could still learn about the power station and potential careers there, Drax developed virtual educational tours which were made freely available on its website, as well as a virtual work experience scheme.

Drax said that care homes have been on the frontline during the pandemic as they do their best to look after and protect the most elderly and vulnerable within communities. To help give something back to them, 170 small care homes supplied with energy by Opus Energy and Haven Power – part of the Drax Group – had their bills cancelled for two months.

Drax Group’s head of sustainable business, Vicky Bullivant, said: “The response from those we have supported over the last few months has been overwhelming.

“Our support package has made a big difference to the lives of so many people, from different walks of life within our communities. It has been incredibly rewarding for everyone at Drax to see the positive impact our work has had on the communities we live and work in.”

Drax also donated £150,000 to the Money Advice Trust’s Business Debtline as part of the support package. The debtline provides lifeline advice for SMEs facing financial hardship as a result of Covid-19.