SIXTEEN community store teams throughout County Fermanagh, County Tyrone and County Armagh have raised over £11,000 during their Blooming Great Summer fundraising activities for Marie Curie NI.

The charity provides vital end of life care for thousands across the country, and for which SPAR NI has raised £880,000 since the partnership began in 2017.

In that time, McBride’s SPAR stores have raised a fantastic £168,048.98.

Peter McBride who owns the network said; “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. We have been active in fundraising for Marie Curie since the partnership with SPAR begin in 2017 and last year we raised £28,956 for the charity. It is hugely needed with 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.

“We are delighted to have achieved such a total in one weekend.”

During the weekend of fundraising events for the initiative, store teams embarked on spinathons and wore yellow to represent Marie Curie for the two days.

The team at McBride’s SPAR in Mullaghmore raised £700 during a five hour spinathon, with store manager Geraldine Mulgrew adding; “Our whole team enjoyed taking part in the spinathon and dressing up for a weekend of fun for a great cause. We want to thank our local shoppers for supporting our fundraising efforts with their generosity, it was great to see everyone there.”

The Blooming Great Summer fundraiser comes hot off the heels of Balmoral Show, where visitors raised an incredible £24,254.19 thanks to their donations in return for one of the infamous red hats. The total will be donated to SPAR and EUROSPAR NI’s charity partners, Marie Curie and Cancer Fund for Children.

Earlier in the year, stores also fundraised for Marie Curie through the Great Daffodil Appeal, raising £3,648 from daffodil sales in stores.

Bronagh Luke, SPAR NI, commented, “As we welcome the summer days and nights, it is the perfect opportunity to get together for a fundraiser, and Marie Curie’s Blooming Great Summer was a great place to start.

“Every SPAR store across Northern Ireland supports Marie Curie as our official charity partner, and this was a chance to elevate that partnership and boost those much needed funds for the charity. Shoppers saw their local stores turning yellow over the weekend, with McBride’s SPAR stores rising to the occasion and going the extra mile to encourage donations.”

Conor O’Kane, Senior Partnership Manager, Marie Curie added; “For seven years SPAR NI has been smashing through fundraising milestones for Marie Curie and regularly raising over £50,000 with their Blooming Great Summer campaigns alone, with donations still being collected for this year’s campaign. We’re hugely grateful to the SPAR stores, employees and of course their generous shoppers.

“These incredible donations help our organisation provide vital end of life care, whatever the illness, in their own homes and at our Belfast hospice. We are delighted to see the stores bring such imagination and creativity to their fundraising for the Blooming Great Summer weekend and send huge thanks to everyone for their efforts.”

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