'We Test, You Rest'

Our electric blanket testing programme 'We Test You Rest' is now in its seventh consecutive year. Run in conjunction with Age Concern the programme offers not only free electric blanket testing to older people but also a free repair or replacement service to ensure that everyone leaves the testing day with a safe electric blanket.

25,000 blankets have been tested to date of which over 16,000 have been repaired or replaced. Each year the number of blankets tested has increased, a clear indication that through our partnership with Age Concern we are able to make life a little easier for older people within local communities.

The success of this programme has been recognised externally. In both 2004 and 2005, we were awarded a Big Tick Award by Business in the Community (BiTC). The programme has been praised for being 'very high on ingenuity' as well as 'very practical and praiseworthy for its involvement of a charity trusted by old people'.

Amy Cross from the Community Relations Team explained: "This year has been an amazing year for We Test You Rest with the record for the highest number of blankets tested in one day being broken twice."

The Christmas Lighting Fund

Communities across the Midlands region benefited from the donation of eight grants worth £2,500. The grants were used during 2005 to buy new Christmas lights and decorations or to boost established parish council displays.

Grants worth £25,000 have been given to local parish councils who applied for a share of the Christmas Lighting Fund.

Phil Wilson, Central Networks Customer Operations Manager was one of the judges. He commented: "We were amazed that so many parish councils applied and many had obviously gone to a good deal of effort with their application, including posters and poems."

In the end, judges chose eight applications to each receive £2,500 from the fund while four others were selected to receive £1,000. A further £250 was given to each of the four applicants who had sent in poems and posters with their submission.

The successful applicants were:

• £2,500: Shirebrook Town Council, Normanton on Soar Parish Council, Selston Parish Council, Rothwell Parish Council, Studley Parish Council, Woolaston Parish Council, Pattingham & Patshull Parish Council, Wyeside Group Parish.
• £1,000: Brant Broughton & Straglethorpe Parish Council, Melbourne Parish Council, Leigh Parish Council, Cookhill Parish Council.
• £250: Linby Parish Council, Wagby Parish Council, Barlaston Parish Council, Kemble & Twen Parish Council.

Power Station Environmental Improvements

We have an ongoing commitment to improve the environment in which we live and work, not only to have real impact on local communities, but also to encourage natural habitats around our sites.

One example of this ongoing commitment is the work of Bill Jones our Environmental Officer at Kingsnorth and Gain Power Station, who continues to promote, the site as a haven for wildlife, dispelling the myth that large power plants are bad places for animals and wild plants to live. Kingsnorth and Grain has a diverse range of wildlife on the site, ranging from badgers, foxes, peregrine falcons and spoonbills to the rare lady's-tresses orchid. 202 birds have been recorded on the site along with 74 different species of fish and a short-snouted sea horse.

As part of Bill's commitment to local communities, he has also talked to over 2,000 people from such diverse groups such as the Women's Institute, the Scouts and the Medway bee keepers.