At Hastings, we are committed to supporting our customers, colleagues and community through these difficult times. We’re proud to announce our Covid-19 Community Commitment Grant Scheme, making £200,000 available to support smaller charities in Bexhill and Leicester through the coronavirus pandemic. The scheme aims to help the most vulnerable in our communities via food hamper provisions and through a community grant fund for local charities that colleagues would like Hastings to support. 

Supporting the areas where our offices are located, we will be splitting the contribution between charities in Bexhill and Leicester. Colleagues are passionate about supporting local charities and know the difference that £200,000 along with their fundraising will make to help the charities to continue to provide a lifeline of support to individuals and groups in the local community.

In the Bexhill area, Hastings will be raising money for Dom’s Food Mission – a charity supporting those in need in the local area. From emergency food packages for families, NHS workers, the elderly and vulnerable, to supporting refuges and care homes, Dom’s Food Mission provides a lifeline at a time when many are feeling desperate and alone. 

In Leicester we will be raising money for Open Hands – a charity that provides an invaluable support to those in the local area. From food parcels to a weekly hot meal service, the charity is also helping to educate the homeless on the Coronavirus and Government guidelines as they have little or no access to news information. Since the outbreak they have seen a 50% rise in demand for their emergency food parcel service and expect this to rise significantly over the coming weeks.

 The monies will be split as follows:

  • Over £10,000 via Just Giving - Hastings has kicked this off with a £2,500 donation for each charity and its colleagues have been invited to additionally donate as and where they can, along with any kind contributions from the public. The company will then match contributions up to a further £2,500 for each charity.
  • Up to £190,000 has been made available for any local charities that are helping our communities with coronavirus related projects and schemes. The Hastings Direct Covid-19 Community Grant Scheme gives local charities within a 20 mile radius of Conquest House (Hastings’ head office) or St George’s Way (Leicester office) the opportunity to apply for a grant. The applicant must be a registered charity.

Toby van der Meer, Hastings Chief Executive Office added, “We’re proud of our ongoing commitment to our local communities and the invaluable work they do. Over the past few weeks we have introduced a number of extraordinary measures to make sure that we keep colleagues safe and support our customers, especially NHS and frontline healthcare workers so we want to be there for our communities too. We hope our commitment and this support will allow charities and good causes continue to help those in need at this difficult time.”

To support Dom’s Food Mission at this time, please visit:
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hd-domsfoodmission

To support Open Hands at this time, please visit:
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hd-openhands

Find out more about the scheme here: www.hastingsplc.com/news/view/id/468

Hastings is committed to protecting and supporting colleagues, customers and the wider community during the Coronavirus pandemic. By keeping customers safely on the road, in particular NHS and frontline healthcare workers who need their vehicles to get to and from work, and being available to service any claims they may unfortunately have. We have also taken wider customer actions to include additional support for customers impacted by the coronavirus with financial difficulties and waiving some of our normal fees, as well as providing free RAC breakdown assistance, a priority customer service and clams line for NHS and frontline healthcare workers. Our CEO, Toby van der Meer is further supporting this by offering his direct email to NHS and frontline healthcare worker still experiencing difficulties with our service.

The welfare of colleagues is paramount and Hastings has taken many steps to ensure their safety. Any colleagues who can work from home are doing so including vulnerable colleagues, those who are pregnant, and those that are self-isolating.  Hastings has also significantly reduced the number of colleagues in its offices and are working at pace to deploy homeworking telephony solutions to all customer support colleagues.  In the meantime Hastings has taken many measures to make the office environment as safe as possible for colleagues, including appropriate distancing between desks, increased cleaning schedules, free takeaway food and hot drinks from our colleague canteen, and importantly advising colleagues to observe social distancing at all times. 

 

updated: 16th June 2020