Shoppers give a whole bunch for Great Daffodil Appeal

David Lavery from Trainor Bros SPAR, Pontyzpass celebrates with Marie Curie nurses Paul Rooney and Jenny Steen after SPAR shoppers raised £30,000 in just six weeks for the SPAR NI Buy A Bunch to Give A Bunch initiative in support of Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal.Photo by Aaron McCracken

In a vital year for fundraising, Henderson Wholesale which supplies to SPAR stores across Northern Ireland, implemented a full fundraising drive where donations from each bunch of daffodils sold were doubled to 20p per bunch, and £1 per £20 Mother’s Day bouquet was also donated to Marie Curie during the popular Great Daffodil Appeal.

Surpassing their fundraising goal by 66%, Bronagh Luke, Head of Corporate Marketing at Henderson Group says shoppers have been so generous in supporting the appeal this year.

Bronagh commented; “It has been well documented just how much some of our local community organisations and charities have suffered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and Marie Curie was no exception. It has been hugely important for us as frontline retailers to support their frontline nurses and services as much as we can.

“Doubling our donation this year from 10p to 20p per bunch and including £1 from each £20 Mother’s Day bouquet meant shoppers could really make an impact for the local hospice and the nurses working in our communities to help families day in, day out. We’re incredibly grateful shoppers chose our SPAR stores to buy their daffodils to welcome in Spring and make such a difference.”

A recent Marie Curie report stated that more than 40% more people died at home in the last year due to the pandemic, which made the services that Marie Curie nurses provide in our communities more essential than ever.

Anne Hannan, Partnership Manager at Marie Curie added: “Once again, we are blown over by the generosity of SPAR shoppers who have raised such a significant amount of money.

“£30,000 going directly into our local services means we can provide over 1,400 more hours of community nursing care or enable 74 more people with a terminal illness spend their final days at a Marie Curie Hospice, and that is just so important after the challenging year we have had.”

The annual Great Daffodil Appeal from Marie Curie has been supported by SPAR NI since the partnership began in 2017, with over £400,000 raised through various initiatives including the Blooming Great Tea Party.

The Buy a Bunch to Give a Bunch initiative to support the campaign will run annually at SPAR NI stores thanks to this year’s success, Bronagh finished: “The sense of community across Northern Ireland is greater than ever, and we’re thankful to be in the heart of each one. We can’t thank our shoppers and retailers enough for making such an incredible contribution to this vital campaign, and we look forward to a summer of fundraising for Marie Curie as SPAR celebrates its 60th year in Northern Ireland.”