MORE than £100,009 has been donated to a number of charities in the area.

Provide Community, based in Colchester, has donated £120,000 to 30 different charities and community groups in Essex.

In its most recent initiative, the community interest company asked more than 1,000 staff to nominate local causes for the money to go to.

Provide’s Council of Governors panel made the decision by looking through the nominations and selecting who will receive funding from £500 to £5,000.

Among those who received the highest donation of £5,000 was Beacon House Colchester, the Colchester Foodbank, Autism Anglia and Essex Family Support.

Charities which have also been given donations of £2,000 include Friends of Braiswick Primary, Mistley Kids Club, Home Start Essex, Colchester Children’s Charity Appeal and Colchester Anti-Loo Brigade.

They hope the cheques can be given to the charities in person by the staff who nominated them.

Mark Heasman, group chief executive at Provide Community, said: “As a community-driven organisation, supporting the hard work of local charities is core to our mission.

“It is an important reminder that our organisation’s values of care and compassion are best reflected through our colleagues.”

Provide Community is an employee-owned enterprise whose colleagues contribute to the direction of the company by making suggestions for improvements as well as influencing how profits are reinvested.

Since 2011, the organisation has delivered health and social care services across Essex for people in their homes, hospitals, nursing homes and primary care settings.

In the time since their opening, Provide Community has donated more than £3million to charities, education and community organisations.

Nicola Yarnall, chairwoman of the council of governors, said: “As chair of the council of governors, I feel extremely privileged to be representing our members and playing a role in the team that decides where this phase of charitable giving will go.

“Being a community interest company enables us to go above and beyond our normal health and social care role and seeing the impact of that is truly heartening.”