SPAR retailers in the North of England who supported Marie Curie nurses with over one million items of PPE during the pandemic have been thanked by the charity.
At the peak of the pandemic, 93 SPAR stores owned or serviced by James Hall & Co. Ltd became PPE access points where 190 Marie Curie nurses collected free PPE to ensure they could provide end of life care and support to people with terminal illness, and their families.
Marie Curie’s head of Corporate Partnerships, Tom Heron and senior partnership manager, Megan Townshend personally thanked SPAR Northern Guild member Phil Bridge and highest independent SPAR fundraiser for the North of England, Nigel Masters, on a visit to James Hall.
Phil Bridge said: “I was really pleased to open my stores up to be PPE access points for Marie Curie Nurses as we all had to pull together during the pandemic in what was an unusual time for everyone.
“Marie Curie is a charity that is there for anyone, and thanks to the kind-heartedness of the communities in Clitheroe and Blackburn where I have my stores, I was delighted to be able to hand over a large amount of fundraising to Tom and Megan during their visit.”
Marie Curie is SPAR UK’s principal charity partner and all SPAR retailers in the North of England who participated in the PPE initiative will be receiving tailored thank you certificates.
Warehouse staff at James Hall & Co. Ltd’s SPAR Distribution Centre at Bowland View in Preston, which served as the hub for PPE distribution, will also be receiving recognition for their efforts.
Nigel Masters said: “We are always very keen to support Marie Curie’s key fundraising initiatives so supporting the PPE scheme was a natural step for us.
“Our loyal customers are also incredibly generous throughout the year with donations into the Marie Curie buckets at the till, and that consistently means we raise a substantial amount for this fantastic charity.”
Megan Townshend said: “The pandemic was a critical time for our work as a charity and it was of paramount importance that our Marie Curie Nurses could access PPE locally to enable them to continue their work.
“We know that SPAR stores were extremely busy during the pandemic serving their local communities, so we are extremely grateful and thankful to retailers who were open to embracing the PPE initiative enabling our Nurses to get hold of PPE when they needed to.”
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