News: AESSEAL become SYCF's biggest corporate donor

Rotherham manufacturing firm, AESSEAL, has become the South Yorkshire Community Foundation's (SYCF) biggest corporate donor to date through the Grassroots Grants Endowment Challenge.

The Templeborough firm made several donations throughout the three year programme that, after match funding, created a charitable endowment fund in their name worth almost £1m.

The company's final donations made in recent months have been crucial in allowing SYCF to meet its match funding targets ahead of schedule and also take advantage of extra match funding not used in other areas.

Through the national Grassroots Grants Endowment Challenge, SYCF worked in partnership with a range of generous donors to make sure South Yorkshire took full advantage of the match funding.

AESSEAL helped the foundation meet a target to raise £1.7m that, after pound for pound match funding, created a pot of £3.4m for South Yorkshire.

But in just the last few weeks AESSEAL also matched £85,000 of allocation that hadn't been taken up elsewhere in the UK to take the total raised for South Yorkshire to £3.57m.

Gordon Bridge, Director at AESSEAL, said: "We are now looking forward to seeing the great benefit that AESSEAL's charitable fund will have for worthy causes throughout South Yorkshire."

The pot will sit in an endowed fund, with the income going out in grants to vital community projects for years to come from April 2011.

Pauline Grice, chief executive of SYCF, said: "By meeting this challenge, the people of South Yorkshire have shown a real commitment and appreciation of how important it is to support the area for the long term.

"AESSEAL is a shining example of a community focussed organisation that has a real commitment to improving the area in which it operates.

"We are delighted that through Grassroots Grants they have become our biggest corporate donor."

AESSEAL is the world's fourth largest mechanical seal business. They specialise in the design and manufacture of mechanical seals, bearing protectors and environmental control systems for process equipment, maximising reliability and protecting the environment from leakage.

SYCF website
AESSEAL website

Images: aesseal.co.uk