SP scaled up giving, expanded programmes to benefit seniors, children and youth

Singapore, 1 November 2022 – At the Community Chest Awards 2022, SP Group (SP) was recognised with three awards for its sustained philanthropy, strong volunteerism culture and community engagement. Group Chief Executive Officer Stanley Huang received SP’s Charity Platinum Award, Enabler Award, and Volunteer Partner Award at the event presided by President Halimah Yacob on 1 November 2022 at the Istana.

Working closely with Community Chest has enabled SP to effectively identify needs, collaborate with social service agencies and create sustained impact to help vulnerable groups. Mr Huang said, “SP is honoured to receive this recognition from Community Chest. Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, we scaled up our efforts to fulfil long-standing commitments and set up new programmes to benefit a wider range of social service users, from seniors, to children and youth.” Mr Huang paid tribute to SP’s staff, business associates and the public for enabling its programmes to grow from strength to strength over the years.

Last year, SP’s contributions totalled S$4.5 million in donations, sponsorships and volunteer manpower. These include maintaining support for 21,000 seniors through the SP Heartware Fund, which has raised more than S$18 million since it was established in 2005. In addition, SP also committed S$1.1 million this year to see through a five-fold increase in its annual Power Packs initiative, enabling 10,000 lower-income families to receive daily essential items.

In widening the scope of its programmes across the age spectrum, SP launched SP Kids at Heart, donating S$2.1 million over the past two years to support 5,000 children under KidSTART with learning tools, including digital devices for home-based learning and early literacy development.

SP also extended its reach to youth from vulnerable backgrounds by launching the inaugural SP Group Engineering Study Awards this year with a contribution of S$1.35 million to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). This will benefit 450 ITE students from lower-income families over the next three years. Through this study award, SP aims to aid aspiring engineers in securing better academic and employment opportunities.

In amplifying fundraising efforts for the SP Heartware Fund, SP enables its customers and business associates to donate to Community Chest through the SP app and donation appeals in its utilities bills. SP also matches dollar-for-dollar donations made by its staff to the Fund, and underwrites all fund-raising and operational costs of the Fund and its programmes, so that all donations will go fully to the social service organisations.

Staff volunteers, known as SP Heart Workers, organise outreach activities for social service users throughout the year. These include befriending activities at Senior Activity Centres, helping seniors with their grocery runs, conducting digital clinics and more. At the height of the pandemic, SP Heart Workers also partnered FairPrice to bring a mobile supermarket to the doorstep of seniors. SP’s staff have also been part of national-level efforts to provide pandemic relief to the public, including the manning of hotlines for Temasek Foundation’s Stay Prepared programme and Ministry of Health’s home recovery scheme.

Mr Huang explained, “Over the years, we have developed a strong culture of volunteerism amongst our team members. This shared purpose of pursuing a common good unifies our people, fosters team-building and cultivates the spirit of giving.”

SP Group has received the Charity Platinum Award and Volunteer Partner awards in past editions of the Community Chest Awards, held annually to honour organisations and individuals in Singapore who have made outstanding contributions to the social service sector to care for the less fortunate in the community.

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About SP Group

SP Group is a leading utilities group in the Asia Pacific, empowering the future of energy with low-carbon, smart energy solutions for its customers. It owns and operates electricity and gas transmission and distribution businesses in Singapore and Australia, and sustainable energy solutions in Singapore, China, Vietnam and Thailand.

As Singapore's national grid operator, about 1.6 million industrial, commercial and residential customers benefit from its world-class transmission, distribution and market support services. These networks are amongst the most reliable and cost-effective world-wide.

Beyond traditional utilities services, SP Group provides a suite of renewable and sustainable energy solutions including solar energy solutions, microgrids, cooling and heating systems for business districts and residential townships, electric vehicle fast charging and green digital energy management tools for customers in Singapore and the region.

For more information, please visit spgroup.com.sg or follow us on Facebook at fb.com/SPGroupSG, and LinkedIn at spgrp.sg/linkedin.

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