Liverpool,UK, 2017-Nov-01 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shop Direct has raised £440,000 in just 12 months to digitally equip Claire House’s new site, which will support hundreds of seriously and terminally ill children in Liverpool and the wider North West.
In September 2016, the 4,700-strong team at Shop Direct voted for Claire House Children’s Hospice as its charitable partner of the year for 2016/17. The charity helps seriously ill children live life to the full by creating wonderful experiences and bringing a sense of normality to family life.
Since then, colleagues across the etail giant’s sites in Liverpool and Manchester have undertaken a variety of fundraising activities including a charity ball for over 1,000 people, mountain climbing, fun days, worldwide marathons, skydiving, cycling and a digital dog show.
Shop Direct has also worked with Claire House to form a new innovation board, which is helping the charity to define what a world class digital hospice is and deliver the plans, which will create a lasting legacy for the North West.
The corporate partnership, which is Claire House’s biggest to date, has helped the charity put in place futureproof digital infrastructure like cabling, Wi-Fi and server technology at its new site located in the West Derby area of Liverpool. In addition, Claire House is modernising paper-based systems so its teams can deliver a more personalised service while caring for children in their own homes, as well as at the site.
The team at Shop Direct is also helping to fund and design an interactive multi-media suite for use by the children and families who visit the centre. It will include cutting-edge technology and innovative sensory treatments.
Alex Baldock, group CEO at Shop Direct, said: “We’re passionate about the North West and helping our local communities, but even we were blown away by the huge, huge difference Claire House makes in the lives of children and their families. It’s a charity that’s close to a lot of our colleagues’ hearts, and we were all delighted to support them.
“Everyone at Shop Direct has got behind Claire House in some style; raising more than we’ve ever raised before in a charity partnership and smashing our original £400,000 target. Our colleagues’ ambition and commitment has been inspirational; from the person who is completing seven marathons to the colleague who got a Claire House tattoo.
“We’re delighted that the money we’ve raised will help to transform the charity’s new site, making a massive difference to children and their families’ for years to come. We can’t wait for the next stage of our partnership, which will see us work together on a cutting-edge multimedia suite.”
David Pastor, Chief Executive at Claire House, commented: “Not only has this been Claire House’s largest corporate partnership, it’s been one of our most successful, with both organisations working closely together on a common goal; to support the children and families we care for.
“We’re so grateful to everyone at Shop Direct who have got behind our cause so wholeheartedly and really helped us kick start our journey to reaching every family that needs us.”
ABOUT CLAIRE HOUSE
Claire House Children’s Hospice helps seriously and terminally ill children live life to the full by creating wonderful experiences and bringing back a sense of normality to family life. By providing specialist nursing care and emotional support Claire House helps families smile again when life couldn’t get any tougher.
Offering care whenever and wherever it’s needed, the hospice provides various therapies, day care, short breaks, counselling and end of life care. Claire House offers parents some desperately needed time off with the peace of mind that their children are being well looked after. The hospice provides someone to talk to and specialist counselling and family support. Families also get a chance to get to know each other and meet with other people going through similar experiences through days out, experiences and support groups.
www.clairehouse.org.uk
www.facebook.com/ClaireHouseCH
www.twitter.com/ClaireHouse
www.instagram.com/clairehouse
ABOUT SHOP DIRECT
Shop Direct is the UK’s second largest pureplay digital retailer, with annual sales of £1.93 billion. Our digital department store brands are Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com, VeryExclusive.co.uk and LittlewoodsIreland.ie. We receive an average of more than 1.3 million website visits every day, with 69% of online sales completed on mobile devices.
We exist to make good things easily accessible to more people. With our department store range of famous brands, market-leading technology and data capabilities and unique financial services products offering flexible ways to pay, we’re well placed to deliver on that promise.
We sell more than 1,800 famous brands, including big name labels and our own exclusive brands. We have four million customers and deliver 49 million products every year. Our free click and collect service, Collect+, delivers to 6,500 stores across the country, increasing ease and convenience for customers.
For more information on Shop Direct, visit www.shopdirect.com or follow us on Twitter at @ShopDirect.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Shop Direct
Dave Lafferty
dave.lafferty@shopdirect.com
07552 283 266
Source: Shopdirect