Opus Energy
Opus Energy pledges £10,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust
Opus Energy has pledged to raise £10,000 throughout 2010/11, for one of the UK's most common, life-threatening, inherited diseases, Cystic Fibrosis (CF).
The trust is the UK's only national charity dealing with all aspects of CF. The fundraisers and Expert Patient Advisors throughout the UK, fund research to treat and cure the disease and aim to ensure appropriate clinical care and support for people suffering with CF.
CF affects the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, by clogging them with thick sticky mucus, making it hard to breathe and digest food. There are over 8,500 people in the UK with CF and over 2 million carrying the faulty gene that causes the disease; that’s around 1 in 25 of the population. This means if two carriers have a child, the baby has a 1 in 4 chance of having CF.*
Although improvements in treatments mean a baby born today could expect to live over 38 years, it is vital that the work continues to make this figure rise. By pledging to raise £10,000 Opus Energy will be helping CF sufferers receive the treatment they need and help continue the research to find an effective treatment for CF.
Over the next year Opus Energy employees will embark on a calendar of fundraising and volunteering activities ranging from charity fun days in the office, personal challenges, kind donations from staff and taking part in some of the CF challenge events.
Charlie Crossley Cooke, founder and Managing Director of Opus Energy comments;
“The annual fundraising pledge gives our employees the opportunity to achieve a personal goal, as well as, having a positive effect on the local communities we work in.
“Cystic Fibrosis Trust is a charity that is very close to the heart of an Opus employee who has a young child living with the disease. Due to the comparatively low numbers of people suffering from cystic fibrosis it is often overlooked but, because of our personal exposure, the need to assist the CFT with the invaluable work they do really has really struck a chord. Opus will be donating the money to help provide support and care for those affected in the Northamptonshire area and also raise awareness of the disease.”
Over the past two years, Opus Energy employees held a number of fundraising activities to help raise over £20,000 for the Friends of Cynthia Spencer Hospice and the NSPCC. To find out more about this fundraising visit the Opus Energy Challenge website.
* SOURCE: Cystic Fibrosis Trust www.cftrust.org.uk