Leading life and pensions firm AEGON has donated over £26,000 to three local charities in the Lytham and Fylde area thanks to the efforts by staff at its Lytham headquarters. The three charities are North West Air Ambulance, Trinity Hospice and the Special Care Baby Unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

The staff at AEGON’s Lytham Headquarters worked throughout 2007 to raise funds for the charities by holding regular events such as ‘dress down days’ and raffles. AEGON has matched the total raised by their staff, meaning each charity has received almost £9,000.

The three charities were selected following an employee vote early in 2007. Employees were invited to select the charity they wanted from a list of over 35, all of which had been nominated by AEGON staff.

The local charities benefiting are:

North West Air Ambulance:

The North West Air Ambulance (NWAA) is a unique regional medical air emergency. The service is available seven days a week, 365 days a year across 5,500 square miles serving a residential population of seven million. The charity operates the region’s only medical air emergency service. As the charity receives no mainstream funding it relies on the generosity of people in the region to keep this vital service flying.

Trinity Hospice:

Trinity Hospice provides care for people with advanced illnesses within their homes or at the hospice. Trinity also provides bereavement counselling for people close to patients and comprehensive education and training programmes for health and social care professionals.

Special Care Baby Unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital:

Provides dedicated medical attention and equipment for babies who are either born prematurely, have breathing difficulties or feeding problems, or suffer from abnormalities at birth. The Special Care Baby Unit admits approximately 250 babies each year. It has 16 cots, which are split into three areas of Intensive Care, High Dependency and Special Care.

Heather Armstrong, Head of Lytham Operations said, “It has been an impressive year in terms of fundraising activity. Many of our Lytham staff put an immense amount of work into ensuring that fundraising efforts were a success. AEGON is delighted to match the sum the staff have raised with a corporate donation and help contribute to three such valuable charities.”

The charities received their cheques today at a charity lunch held at the AEGON headquarters in Lytham, attended by Heather Armstrong, AEGON staff and the charity representatives.

Notes to editors

• AEGON UK is one of Fylde areas biggest employers with around 750 members of staff based in the Lytham office
• AEGON UK has assets under administration of £52.3 billion and employs around 4,500 staff. AEGON UK is part of the AEGON group, which is one of the world’s largest listed insurers and has assets under management of 245 billion
• AEGON in the UK offer pensions, life insurance, asset management and advice businesses to corporate and individual customers

For further information

Louise Sutherland AEGON UK
M: 07740897540 | T: 0131 549 3797