An SSEN Transmission team working on a major overhead electricity line project in the North East of Scotland have raised over £10,000 for AberNecessities' Christmas Appeal after scaling the UK's highest mountain.

SSEN Transmission has been working to deliver a new 400kV overhead line project across the North East of Scotland along with their principal contractor Omexon Morgan Sindall Infrastructure.  Project team members have previously been involved in donations for AberNecessities and following a visit to the charities' HQ earlier this year, were keen to continue to raise funds for the children's charity. 

Together, a team of eleven intrepid hikers working on the project decided to take on all 1,345m of Ben Nevis to raise funds for local children's charity AberNecessities. The hike was a huge success, will all eleven members successfully reaching the summit before making their way back down in a round trip of just over seven hours.

Between them they raised around £5,000 in donations, which was matched by SSEN Transmission to bring the grand total to £10,000 which will be donated towards AberNecessities latest appeal; No Child Should Go Without Believing in Magic. Sadly, 21.8% of children living across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are living in poverty which means the magical feeling and hopeful anticipation of Christmas morning doesn't exist. AberNecessities' latest appeal means that all children can experience the joy and magic of Christmas, no matter their circumstance. AberNecessities create a bespoke Christmas Eve Box for every child they support; carefully curated for each individual child, and lovingly filled with cosy pyjamas, slipper socks, a festive activity, a Christmas story, a mug and hot chocolate, a sweetie or two and a treat for Santa & Reindeer.  In addition, the funds will also go towards purchasing additional warm clothing for families most in need at this time of year, ensuring everyone can be kept warm and safe.

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This week, project team members visited AberNecessities offices in Dyce to hear more about the fantastic work they do to support children and families at this time of year.

This is not the first time the project team has supported AberNecessities, with teams making a donation of £4,000 in support of the charities No Child Should Go Without Sweet Dreams appeal in June to help provide bedding for families most in need, ensuring every child has a warm and safe place to rest their head.

Commenting on the hike, Sammy McEwan, Site Manager for OMSi, said: "We had heard of the amazing work that AberNecessities do for children in the area in which we are currently operating for the North East 400kV overhead line, and wanted to do something to help out. After talking with the team we came up with the idea of taking on Ben Nevis and raising funds at the same time.

"The hike took place in early autumn so we were lucky to have caught a good weather window before the proper winter conditions took hold. It was a really great day and I know those who all took on the challenge – some of us climbing a munro for the first time – really got lots out of it, particularly knowing that everything we were doing was for such a good cause. I think we all had sore feet the next day but it was worth it."

SSEN Transmission Project Manager Simon Robertson said: "AberNecessities Children's Charity is such an incredible organisation in our area, and we're once again delighted to support such a brilliant charity which provide a lifeline for so many children and their families, particularly at such a difficult time of year for so many.

"The project team did a terrific job at scaling Ben Nevis and raised a brilliant amount for charity of their own accord, and so we were proud to match their fundraising efforts to bring the grand total to £10,000 for AberNecessities.

"Supporting the local community is really important to us, and after seeing some of the amazing work that the team from AberNecessities carry out earlier this year, we're really pleased that as the project is nearing completion, we can make another contribution to their fantastic organisation, which we hope will help to spread a little extra festive joy for children most in need this Christmas."

Danielle Flecher-Horn, Founder of AberNecessities said: "The support from SSEN and OMSi is just phenomenal and, most importantly they have really gone above and beyond to step up during this ever-worsening cost of living crisis. This generous donation will afford us the ability to purchase essential items for families in their biggest time of need. We are so grateful to the teams and look forward to building a lasting relationship with SSE and OMSi to ensure we can continue to provide children living in poverty with the basic essentials they need and deserve."

SSEN Transmission has now completed the reinforcement of the existing 275kV overhead line connecting the substations at Blackhillock, Rothienorman, New Deer and Peterhead to enable operation at an increased voltage of 400kV.  This will allow increased generation capacity to the transmission system and allow the connection of future renewable energy projects in the area.