Wakefield Morrisons workers raise more than £100K for Young Lives vs Cancer charity

Bev Kelly, who is Community Champion at Morrisons on Dewsbury Road, and colleague Pamela Abbott, Community Champion at Morrisons junction 41 distribution, have been fundraising for the past four years for Young Lives vs Cancer, the supermarket's charity partner.

Between then, they have raised more than £100,000, money which has gone towards building a home, called Jack's House, for parents to stay for free while their child receives treatment at Christies Hospital in Manchester.

Bev said: "Over the past four years, I have raised £56,500 and Pam £46,000.

"We help out in the community supporting food banks, schools, hospitals, hospices and community groups - it's the best job you could wish for.

"We have just moved on now to our new charity partner, Together for Short Lives, and so every penny we raise over the next three years goes directly to Martin's House children's hospice in Leeds."

A spokesperson for Morrisons said: "Pam and Bev are two fantastic Community Champions, we're always blown away by the impact they have for the Wakefield community and the charities they support."

Morrisons as a whole have helped raise £18million for Young Lives vs Cancer since 2017.

The retailer partnered with the charity for what was initially a three-year partnership with a target of raising £8million to support children and young people facing cancer.

With two extensions bringing it to five years, the partnership has more than doubled its original target, making it the most successful charity partnership Morrisons has seen to date.

CEO of Morrisons, David Potts, said: “There is no doubt that this is our most successful partnership and this is down to the tireless commitment shown by our colleagues up and down the country.

"I’d also like to recognise the role our customers and suppliers have made; without them we would never have reached such an inspiring total.”

Morrisons colleagues and customers have taken part in numerous fundraising campaigns, challenges and activities over the years across all 498 stores.

Each store has a dedicated Community Champion, like Bev and Pamela, who organised fundraising events both in and out of stores throughout the year, raising over £11 million of the final total.

Young Lives vs Cancer works with children and young people diagnosed with cancer and their families to help them find the strength to face everything that cancer has to throw at them.

The money raised from this partnership has helped to fund financial grants to help families with the extra costs that cancer brings, funded families to use facilities in the charity’s Home from Home facilities whilst their child is undergoing treatment in a nearby hospital, and introduced support groups for service users and their families.

Mr Potts said: “Personally, I have had the privilege of visiting some of the Young Lives vs Cancer Homes from Home and have been lucky enough to meet some of the families the charity supports and you couldn’t overstate how much of a difference Young Lives vs Cancer continues to make.

"Every fundraiser, every donation, no matter how small, goes a long way to changing the lives of these young people and their families.”

The partnership culminated in the handover of a new Home from Home funded by Morrisons, Jack’s House. Jack’s House is named after a young service user, Jack Thompson, who has raised over £130,000 to date for the charity, much of which was done across Morrisons stores.

The new Home from Home is due to open in Manchester this year to provide free accommodation for families and young people near to their treatment centre.

CEO of Young Lives vs Cancer, Rachel Kirby-Rider said: "It's been such an incredible five years working alongside Morrisons, and the final total has far exceeded any of our expectations. The difference this will make to the children, young people and families we support cannot be overestimated.

"We're sad to see the partnership come to an end, but I know on behalf of everyone at Young Lives vs Cancer and all the families we support, we will be forever grateful for all they have done."