Charity raffle organised by Whalley SPAR customers raises £420 for Marie Curie

As a collective, SPAR stores across the north of England donated £60,000 to Marie Curie throughout 2019, all collected through in-store fundraising activities like raffles, competitions and cash donations.

Determined to do their bit, staff at SPAR Whalley recently organised a Marie Curie raffle with customers kindly donating £420, the equivalent of 21 hours of care from a specially trained Marie Curie nurse.

Kelly Roberts, store manager, said, “Marie Curie is SPAR’s national charity champion and we have raised over £1.5m. for the charity since the partnership began in 2017. “Many of my team have close friends and relatives that have connections with Marie Curie and after hearing about the cancellation of so many fundraising events, we really wanted to do something to

help their fantastic team of community nurses.

“Coronavirus poses significant challenges to in-store fundraising with reduced till space due to Perspex safety screens and the reduction in customers using cash, many of who used to leave their change in the donation tubs.

Kelly explained: “As a result, we have had to be a bit more creative so staff personally donated prizes for the raffle and we are currently selling colouring sheets for children during half term, with all proceeds going to Marie Curie.

"These activities really do add up - last year SPAR stores across the north raised over £16,500 just through in-store Halloween activities."