A POWYS charity that has continued to provide vital support to local residents during the coronavirus pandemic has been handed a donation of more than £6,000.

NFU Mutual agents and staff at the local Hay-on-Wye branch nominated local charity Hay and District Dial-a-Ride to receive a donation of £6,451 from the agency’s national £2million ‘Agency Giving Fund’.

In light of the national emergency the UK continues to face, NFU Mutual, the UK’s leading rural insurer, announced this fund in February to help local frontline charities during 2021. This follows £1m of support delivered by the fund last year, which helped charities across many sectors to keep their life-changing services going throughout the pandemic.

To ensure these donations reach all corners of the UK and are directed where they’re needed most, NFU Mutual’s agents, with over 300 offices nationwide, have been given the opportunity to nominate local charities to receive a share of the fund. The funds will offer support as lockdown measures continue to impact local communities.

This donation has enabled Hay and District Dial-a-Ride to continue providing invaluable support to Hay residents and the surrounding area by providing free transportation to vaccine appointments, essential shopping journeys, prescription deliveries and providing a vital lifeline service to the elderly and vulnerable within the community.

Sophie Davies and Ellie Williams, agents at NFU Mutual Hay office, said: “Covid-19 continues to have a huge impact on everybody, including our customers and their local communities.

“Dial-A-Ride has been making a wonderful difference to our community during these challenging times and we feel extremely proud to hear how our support has made an impact.”

Mary Fellows, chair of Dial-a-Ride, said: “We’re enormously thankful to the Hay-on-Wye agency of NFU Mutual for nominating our charity to receive a donation from the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund.

“The donation will go a long way and will enable us to continue to provide a vital lifeline service to the local community. If anyone living within a nine-mile radius of Hay needs our assistance with transport, please call the office on 01497 821616 for a membership pack.”

For more information about the Hay NFU Mutual agency, visit www.nfumutual.co.uk/hayonwye.