Blog supplied by Rob Reaks from Lightning Fibre

At the start of 2023, Lightning Fibre committed to raising over £5,000 for St Wilfrid’s Hospice, making them a Platinum Business Partner.

So far, the company has donated £2,849 and provided a free 1Gbps business broadband connection worth £2,844 donated for the next three years to the hospice charity shop in Langney Road, Eastbourne. As the full fibre network rolls out across the rest of Eastbourne, Lightning Fibre hopes to provide complimentary full fibre to the hospice building on Broadwater Way during 2024.

£2,000 was raised at the Seafront Soapbox Race in September, where the Lightning Fibre kart was sponsored by local businesses including Team Interiors, Altnets, Southern IT and PRG Marketing (and Lightning Fibre network suppliers Melbye, Mill and Netceed).

Joe Brownell, B2B Manager at Lightning Fibre, said: ‘Our largest donation this year was made possible by the generosity of several businesses who very kindly supported our Soapbox kart earlier this year. We are also very pleased to provide a hyper-fast, hyper-reliable connection, which improves the experience for customers, visitors and staff, whilst saving the charity money on their utility bills.’

The company, based at Moy Avenue Eastbourne, also pays for a day of care for a patient each year to mark its anniversary, which on 24^th January 2024 will be the firm’s sixth anniversary.

St Wilfrid’s Hospice CEO, Colin Twomey, said: ‘As a charity, we rely on our community to provide around 70% of our income. We also want people to talk about the work that we do, both in the hospice and out in the community, to encourage more supporters. We are grateful to Lightning Fibre for their generosity, it really does make a big difference to our work.’

Lightning Fibre was a finalist in the 2023 St Wilfrid’s Community Awards, held at the hospice on 15^th November.

Photo: The Lightning Fibre Soapbox at St Wilfrid’s Hospice, with St Wilfrid’s CEO Colin Twomey and Corporate Community Fundraiser Debra Elliot, and Lightning Fibre’s B2B Manager Joe Brownell, Giulia di Nardo, Liam Castle and Rob Reaks