Under the scheme residents living in the same area who use domestic heating oil can band together to purchase their fuel in bulk, therefore making significant savings compared to buying individually.
The scheme also allows Rix Petroleum to save money on transport costs because the firm delivers to everyone in an area on the same day, it also lessens the HGV traffic to rural parts of the county.
The company then invests some of the savings back into the community in the form of annual rebates which it distributes to the 20 organisations it has signed up for the scheme.
Jon Dench, depot manager at the Attleborough-based business, said when they totted up last year’s rebates in January he was delighted to find out they had topped the £3,000 mark.
“I knew the oil syndicates had been working well and growing in popularity, so I had hoped we would be making significant donations,” he said.
“But when we calculated it was more than £3,000 we were really pleased because not only does it mean we are helping a lot of great organisations across Norfolk, it also means people are really getting involved with the syndicates and benefitting from the savings.”
The local communities using the oil syndicates get to choose which community groups they would like the money to go to.
Among those who benefited from the donations are the Friends of Carbrooke Primary School which received £254.94, Thompson Millennium Green which received £208.60 and Lyng Ex-Servicemen’s Club and Village Hall, which received £168.65.
Others included village halls, churches and pre-school playgroups across the county.
Mr Dench said as Norfolk was such a rural county there were plenty of good reasons for people to get involved with an oil syndicate.
He said: “Oil syndicates do bring a lot of benefits to people. Obviously there are the savings they make on their heating bills which is foremost among them, but they also cut the amount of tankers on the road and therefore help us to be that little bit greener.
“The rebate scheme we offer is the icing on the cake and makes sure that it is a win-win for everyone.”
