Milton Keynes, UK, 2017-Jan-19 — /EPR Retail News/ — Sixty-eight Argos stores in Scotland who took part in a Macmillan Cancer Support fundraising drive during December have raised over twenty thousand pounds (£20,727), which is enough to fund 740 hours of Macmillan nursing care.
Each Scottish Argos store team organised its own individual activities to encourage customers to get involved. These ranged from charity raffles and sponsored silences, to bake sales, Christmas jumper days and even a few painful sponsored leg waxes.
Laura Lamont, store manager for Glasgow Parkhead, who helped organise the activity in West Scotland said: “In the spirit of community in the area, we came up with an idea to pull everyone together in the busiest month of the year to give something back.
“Stores were targeted with raising £20,000 for Macmillan – what they did was up to them but the idea was about dedicating time in store to fundraising and have some fun doing it! My guys loved it, my customers loved it and more importantly we raised money for a great cause doing it.”
Some of the stores ran a ‘guess the age’ competition for a metre-tall Chad Valley giant teddy bear with the winner getting an extra cuddly Christmas present to take home.
Perhaps the toughest fundraising activity was an ice bucket challenge which saw eighteen buckets of freezing cold water thrown at the Argos store team members on a chilly December morning.
Sheena Newport, store manager for Bathgate, who helped organise the activity in East Scotland said: “MacMillan holds a special place in our hearts especially when you look at all of the hard work, care and respite that they offer to those that are suffering and their families too.
“With this in mind we were determined to do something different and really push the boat out over the festive period for a very deserving cause. Every store in Scotland reached out to their local communities at the busiest time of the year and we cannot thank them enough! Everyone was amazing!”
Catriona Munn, Senior Partnership Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, added: “Here at Macmillan we are so grateful for all the support we’ve received from Argos colleagues and their customers since partnering in 2015. We want to say a huge thank you to everyone in the Scottish Argos stores for their enthusiasm and for raising this fantastic amount, which will help fund vital nursing hours for people living with cancer.”
Since voting to support Macmillan as their UK charity partner in 2015, Argos colleagues and customers across the UK have raised £1.5 million, funding over 53,000 hours of Macmillan nursing care.
Notes to Editors:
About Sainsbury’s Argos
Sainsbury’s Argos is a leading UK digital retailer and sells more than 60,000 products under the Argos and Habitat brands. It sells through www.argos.co.uk, www.habitat.co.uk, its growing mobile channels, its 845 stores and over the telephone. Argos Digital Stores and Mini Habitats can also be found in Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
Argos is the UK’s largest high street retailer online and the second most visited website, with nearly a billion website visits a year. More than half of the company’s sales originate online and around 120 million customer transactions take place in its stores each year. Argos offers customers market leading delivery and collection services, including Check & Reserve, Fast Track Delivery and Fast Track Collection which make customers’ lives easier, every day.
Sainsbury’s Argos is part of J Sainsbury plc, a leading retailer of food, clothing and general merchandise and owner of Sainsbury’s Bank. Sainsbury’s commitment to helping customers live well for less has been at the heart of what the company does since 1869. J Sainsbury plc employs 195,000 colleagues across the UK and Ireland whose strong culture and values are integral to driving its success – now and in the future. Our vision is to be the most trusted retailer where people love to work and shop.
About Macmillan Cancer Support
When you have cancer, you don’t just worry about what will happen to your body, you worry about what will happen to your life. Whether it’s concerns about who you can talk to, planning for the extra costs or what to do about work, at Macmillan we understand how a cancer diagnosis can take over everything.
That’s why we’re here. We provide support that helps people take back control of their lives. But right now, we can’t reach everyone who needs us. We need your help to make sure that people affected by cancer get the support they need to face the toughest fight of their life. No one should face cancer alone, and with your support no one will.
To get involved, call 0300 1000 200 today. And please remember, we’re here for you too. If you’d like support, information or just to chat, call us free on 0808 808 00 00 (Monday to Friday, 9am–8pm) or visit macmillan.org.uk
About the Macmillan Cancer Support & Argos partnership
Cancer is often the toughest fight many people will face. Argos and Macmillan Cancer Support are working together to improve access to vital Macmillan nursing hours for everyone affected by cancer, to help ensure that no one faces cancer alone.
Since voting to support Macmillan as their UK charity partner in 2015, Argos colleagues and customers have raised £1.5 million, funding over 53,000 hours of vital Macmillan nursing care to help Macmillan ensure that no one faces cancer alone.
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Source: Argos