One Million Pound fundraising milestone reaches every community in Northern Ireland
Fundraising from SPAR NI store teams and shoppers has broken through the milestone amount of £1,000,000 for Marie Curie, enabling even more community nursing for those who need it the most.
The partnership between SPAR NI and Marie Curie NI has been active since 2017 and has seen the retail brand put its full support and its own creative ideas behind some of Marie Curie’s biggest and most iconic campaigns, including The Great Daffodil Appeal and Blooming Great Tea Party.
It was the recent Blooming Great Tea Parties in-store which raised £52,975 and pushed the fundraising total to £1,024,167.
With stores situated in every community across Northern Ireland, fundraising is led by local retailers, store managers and their teams who value and enable accessible services for their neighbourhoods, which includes care from Marie Curie community nurses.
Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Group which owns the SPAR brand in NI commented; “We are thrilled to reach this monumental milestone for Marie Curie. Over the past eight years, we have been so proud of the passion and support our retailers have given to this partnership, while engaging with the many fundraising initiatives our marketing team has rolled out. Sadly, so many have had their own friends and family members rely on support from Marie Curie’s community teams and at the east Belfast Hospice, which only serves to drive them to help even more.”
Peter McBride who owns 16 SPAR stores in Northern Ireland and has contributed significantly to the partnership added; “I’m incredibly proud of the store teams for the passion and pride they have for our local communities and the organisations that mean so much to us all. Marie Curie services are hugely needed and have a great presence in the South West, and we’re delighted to help where we can, whether that be supporting the charity through fundraising or being there for the community nurses in our areas.”
Brendan Quinn, store manager of SPAR Belfast Road, Bangor says Marie Curie nurses were there for his friend when they were teenagers, and he has seen first-hand the difference the charity makes.
“I lost a friend to leukaemia when I was 17, and it was the Marie Curie nurses who looked after him in his final days, so for me to be able to be involved in fundraising for the charity, from both a personal and professional perspective, is very meaningful.
“The relationship between SPAR NI, our shoppers and Marie Curie is strong and I look forward to working towards the next target together.”
Conor O’Kane, Senior Partnership Manager at Marie Curie added; “This is such a special milestone to reach with SPAR NI, and is the result of the commitment and engagement of every store across Northern Ireland. To have received over one million pounds from one corporate partner in just eight years is incredible, especially as Marie Curie marks 60 years in Northern Ireland.
“At Marie Curie, our priority will always be to bring services where people need them to be, and that is usually at their home. For that, we need sustainable funding sources and the money that SPAR stores have injected into our charity since 2017 is fundamental for what we bring to their communities and how we continue to provide hospice services.
“Oftentimes, shoppers at stores will have an affiliation with Marie Curie, whether we have helped a family member in the past or in the present, and that is what makes this partnership so strong, it’s communities helping communities.”