DOZENS of school children have benefitted from a new soccer school after a community centre saved £15,000 and secured a further £5,000 grant.

Ferryhill Sport and Education Centre (FSEC) managed to save the funds after working with a new not-for-profit energy switch service.

SwitchAid unlocks cash for good causes by switching their energy and telecoms suppliers to make sure they get the best deal.

FSEC is one of the first groups to benefit, saving £14,473 and receiving a grant of £5,000 from commission which would normally have stayed in the pocket of the broker.

Andrew Hubbard, chair of the Ferryhill Community Partnership, the charity behind the sport and education centre, said: “We’ve been able to give the people of Ferryhill what they asked for by setting up a new soccer school which is now being used by about 50 school children a week.”

Energy-switching comparison websites and conventional brokers are usually paid commission by the supplier, but SwitchAid passes on commission through grants and ongoing-savings.

SwitchAid co-founding director David Judge, said: “SwitchAid is specifically designed to support the local community, improve the sustainability of third sector organisations and offer an ethical option in the energy and telecoms sectors notorious for sharp business practices.

“What the four SwitchAid founders realised is that we could address some of the inequity, bad practice and confusion in the energy and telecoms market at the same time as unlocking badly needed cash for local communities.

“It’s been a real success and we’ve recently expanded into the telecoms contracts market combining all our services under one banner.

“Either we help the third sector directly as in the case of the Ferryhill Community Partnership or we provide the business community and the individual the opportunity to unlock cash through our expertise, which can then be channelled back into the local community through their nominated charity.

“By offering our commissions in the form of grants as well as identifying the best savings in the telecoms and energy market, we can unlock cash for charity that otherwise would’ve gone into the pockets of business people.”

For more information about the energy switch service visit SwitchAid.org