Hertfordshire Business Independent

1 April 2011

Donation helping to create green children’s hospital

Clean electricity provider Green Energy UK is helping to create London’s greenest hospital buildings by donating all its winnings from a national customer service competition towards the redevelopment of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The Hertfordshire-based company, which provides green and renewable electricity to homes and businesses across the UK, won Cisco’s Customer Kings competition for its outstanding customer service, netting a £5,000 prize.

This donation now forms part of a huge investment by the hospital to provide world-class facilities for patients as well as finding new and improved ways to treat childhood illnesses.

The redevelopment, due to be completed in May 2012, will see a space of 20,000 square metres cleared for brand new buildings to house operating theatres and outpatient wards, allowing more children to be treated.

The programme is estimated to offset in excess of 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, with a cleaner, greener combined heat and power (CHP) unit providing the hospital’s heating and cooling as well as its own green electricity. Additionally, many of the new buildings will have green roofs, encouraging biodiversity in the city.

“We feel we won the award for simply doing what our customers expect of us, so we wanted to donate the money to a deserving cause,” said Green Energy UK founder and Managing Director, Doug Stewart. “I know from personal experience what a great organisation Great Ormond Street Hospital is.”

Doug continues: “Alongside its pioneering research to provide future generations with preventative medicine as well as cures and remedies, it’s trying to build the greenest facilities around, so it’s sustainable too, which really fits with Green Energy UK’s work towards a cleaner environment.”

Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Director of Development, Bill McGill, says: “This work underlines Great Ormond Street's commitment to maintaining and advancing its position as one of the world’s leading centres for paediatric care and research.”