NATS donates over £640k to charities and organisations

Funds were raised through its Community Fund, corporate charity partnerships, and payroll giving schemes.

NATS and its employees have donated over £640,000 to charities and community organisations during the 2025/26 financial year – an increase of more than 10% on the previous year.

The funding – delivered through NATS’ Community Fund, site and corporate charity partnerships, and payroll giving – supported causes from all over the UK and internationally, including health and wellbeing services, schools, sports groups, heritage organisations and animal charities.

NATS’ Community Fund enables NATS employees who are actively involved with charity and community groups to apply for a financial contribution towards those causes. It also supports match funding requests for employees fundraising for a charity of their choice.

In 2025/26:

• £130,000 was donated through the Community Fund

• 147 successful applications were made by employees, supporting 125 causes

• Funding reached UK communities from Ayrshire to Dorset, and from Cardiff to Kent, as well as overseas causes supported by employees at NATS International offices.

“Giving back to the community has always mattered to me, I love seeing kids and young people enjoying the great outdoors, away from screens and immersed in nature. Thanks to the Community Fund, we’re helping them learn practical, hands-on skills, build confidence, and connect with the world around them.” Antti, Controller, on behalf of Little Acorns CIC.

Over the last year saw the introduction of a new borrowing service at NATS’ centres, making teambuilding equipment freely available for employees to offer hands on help in their local communities with activities such as gardening, painting and decorating, or litter picking.

Throughout the last year, 15 groups took part in various teambuilding projects ranging from outdoor missions and flat-pack builds to shed painting and food bank deliveries for causes that included Mencap Southampton, The Micah Project, Hampshire Food Revolution, ImpactHK and Youth Options.

“We had such a brilliant day volunteering at Mencap, painting sheds, fences and benches with the team. It was great to lend a hand, meet the amazing staff, and chat with some of the people who use the charity every day. A really rewarding experience.” – Sofia, International Affairs

Continuing in its local-level support of charities, NATS partnered with eight site-selected causes, nominated and voted for by employee teams from across the UK and international locations. In total, over £43,000 was raised for the site charities, with teams also providing practical support through in-kind donations (from pizzas to defibrillators, coffee pods to toiletries) and staff volunteering.

NATS continued its corporate charity partnerships with the Jon Egging Trust (JET) and Aerobility, combining fundraising with skills-based volunteering to support young people and disabled flyers respectively.

NATS was recognised and awarded Jon Egging Trust’s ‘Corporate Team of the Year’ for their fundraising efforts; including a month-long fundraising initiative by the Early Careers cohort which raised over £10,000. Five Blue Skies days were hosted at NATS’ centres for 75 JET students, focusing on communications, resilience and employability skills. These days were supported by 16 NATS volunteers, contributing an estimated 400 hours of time.

In addition to donations of £75,000 to Aerobility, several NATS teams also supported the charity via volunteering and giving their time and skills to support the annual Equal Skies Conference, raising awareness of accessibility in the aviation industry.

Donations of control tower tours for Aerobility auctions were also gifted, helping raise additional funds to support their mission to provide the disabled community with access to the magic and wonder of aviation and flight.

Give As You Earn, NATS’ payroll giving initiative, contributed over £280,000 to 390 charities and causes, earning five stars by Payroll Giving in Action Ltd (PGiA), a rating they comment as being “excellent”.