JUNE 2016
Celebrating a year of fundraising with Marks & Spencer Food for thought Many of you will have noticed the yummy treats that have been appearing in the staff kitchen.
arlier this month, we invited colleagues and fundraising volunteers from the Marks & Spencer Pontefract store to a very special celebration event, where we toasted their incredible fundraising efforts.
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Staff at the store chose The Prince of Wales Hospice as their Charity of the Year for 2015/2016. Through bake sales, bag packing, raffles and other fundraising activities, they raised over £12,800, beating their initial £10,000 target. This year the Marks & Spencer team
can’t wait to do it all again, and have chosen the Hospice as their charity of the year for 2016/2017. In a speech made at the celebration event, M&S Manager, Mandy Chippendale gushed with pride about her team’s achievement. She said: “It’s been a big team effort, I’m really proud we’ve achieved that £10,000 and I’m really proud we crept over the Castleford store!” “This year it’s great that we will be doing it all again and we’ve committed £25,000 over the two years - that is what we WILL achieve.”
These have been donated by Marks and Spencer, as part of their surplus food initiative. The scheme aims to reduce food waste from stores by a fifth by 2020, and involves redistributing fruit, vegetables, bread, cakes and groceries that are nearing their expiry date to local charities. The kitchen uses most of the donated food to prepare meals for patients, which is helping to reduce catering costs. Anything left over, or not suitable, is then put in the staff kitchen. If there’s anything that takes your fancy, help yourself. However, we would really appreciate it if you could make a small donation for the items you take – thank you!