Scotmid has extended its charity partnership with Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) until August 2022.
Scotmid appointed CHAS as its charity partner at the end of 2020. It announced the extension during Children’s Hospice Week (21 – 27 June), a week dedicated to raising awareness and funds for children’s hospice and palliative care services across the UK, and the seriously ill children and young people they support.
The decision reflects the retailer’s ambitions to provide the very best support to the charity, following a year of unprecedented restrictions and limited opportunities to fundraise, as well as engage with local communities and get them involved. It also means that Scotmid will be able to support CHAS as it reaches its 30th anniversary milestone next year.
Over the course of the partnership, Scotmid plans to raise £350,000 for CHAS along with three other children’s hospices: Jigsaw Children’s Hospice in Cumbria, Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice and St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Staff working in Scotmid’s food stores, Semichem stores, Scotmid Funerals and Lakes & Dales stores across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England will be coming together to continue raising vital funds to support the charities.
For nearly 30 years, CHAS has been offering full family support service for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions. Each week, three children die from an incurable condition in Scotland, and the need for the charity’s services is on the rise. There are currently more than 16,700 families across Scotland living with the constant fear and heartbreak that their child might die young.
Nicky Bridges, Associate Director of Outreach at CHAS, said: “Although this past year has been incredibly challenging for everyone, CHAS could not be prouder of the efforts made by Scotmid staff and customers to raise as many funds as possible. We are so grateful to Scotmid who has helped CHAS reach families across Scotland, even those in the most remote parts, and enabled us to provide essential care and respite in the comfort of their own homes.”
Shirley McGillivray, Scotmid’s Head of Membership and Community, said: “I would like to thank the staff and customers in our stores for their generosity in the donations they have made so far to such a worthwhile cause. With so many staff being parents or carers themselves, the support we can provide to these charities resonates deeply and I know everyone will be getting behind our fundraising efforts to make sure we hit our target and make a real difference to as many lives as we can.”
