Preston's Rosemere Cancer Foundation shocked by company's surprise double donation

Fundarisers for the charity applied for £15,752 from a six-figure giveaway run by Bolton-based social enterprise Box Power.

Delighted to be told they were among 24 successful applicants, Chief Executive Dan Hill and Trust and Grants Fundraiser Rebecca Arestidou attended a special charity event at Brookfield Hall in Bolton to be awarded the donation - only to find the grant had been doubled to £31,504.

In total, the amount given away came to £800,000

Mr Hill said: “We would like to thank Box Power for its amazing and generous support of Rosemere Cancer Foundation. Its fantastic donation will make a huge life-changing difference to thousands of people across Lancashire and South Cumbria – people who have already had to face and deal with cancer and its treatment - and for that, we are incredibly grateful.”

The donation will help ensure that the Late Effects PRD (Pelvic Radiation Disease) Clinic at Rosemere Cancer Centre, Lancashire and South Cumbria’s regional specialist cancer treatment and radiotherapy centre at the Royal Preston Hospital, can continue to treat former patients left with symptoms such as incontinence, rectal and vaginal bleeding, erectile dysfunction and pelvic and lower back pain following radical radiotherapy to the pelvic area.

Why give so much away?

Box Power was founded by Bolton-based couple Corin and Tricia Dalby. After their son Benjamin was diagnosed with autism, the couple sold their large, multi-million-pound energy brokerage company to a PLC in 2012 and felty inspired to give back to the local community for the help they'd received.

So they set up Box Power - the UK’s first not-for-profit energy consultancy, designed to give clients peace of mind knowing that they were not only getting the best energy deals, but their money was also doing good.

Having set aside profits from the last few years, and witnessing the devastating impact that Covid-19 has had on charities over the past 18 months, Corin and Tricia felt it appropriate to utilise the accumulated profits and open up applications for funding back in June of this year.

Over 200 charities applied and Tricia and Corin personally reviewed each one, as well as arranging in-person or Zoom meetings to speak with the charities directly before whittling the options down to 24.

“It was a much more emotional process than I expected”, said Tricia, “There are so many amazing charities out there, and you feel so moved by the passion that each of them have for their cause and the people they help. We wish we could have helped all of them, but we hope that - through giving as much as we can to as many as we can across all different charity types and areas - the money can make a real difference.

The couple decided to double the grants to maximise the impact they could have.