Morrisons in the North West helps raise thousands for Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal

Morrisons stores within the North West raised over £91k for Marie Curie

Colleagues and customers at Morrisons in the North West have been named some of the nation’s most generous after they raised £91,124 towards Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal this year. 

The annual appeal, which had to be cancelled early this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, takes place across the month of March and encourages people to donate and wear an iconic Marie Curie daffodil pin.

Despite the appeal’s untimely stop, Morrisons helped the charity to raise vital funds via a week of fundraising in their stores in early March. In total, the supermarket have helped raise £2.9m for the charity over the last four years from various fundraising activities, with Morrisons stores within the North West raising a total of £91,124 for 2020.   

Marie Curie needs to raise £2.5 million every week to continue to run essential frontline services and the coronavirus crisis has seriously impacted on the ability to fundraise. All fundraising activity which involves direct contact with people has been cancelled, massively reducing the amount of money the charity has been able to raise.

Marie Curie continues to provide practical information and support, funds research and campaigns for more people to have access to high quality, personalised care wherever and whenever they need it. It has also launched a national Bereavement Support Line recently, where people with any questions or concerns are provided with a listening ear and a safe space to talk about grief and loss.

Paula Hanford, Marie Curie Fundraising Manager in the North West said: “We are so grateful for the amazing support from all the customers, colleagues and volunteers at Morrisons across the region who have raised a fantastic amount once again for us this year. The coronavirus has had, and continues to have, a devastating effect on our fundraising and income – income upon which we rely on to be able to provide vital care for dying people and their loved ones.  We rely on the support of the public to ensure our doctors, nurses and hospice staff on the frontline can continue their important work supporting people and their families, so this money is crucial to Marie Curie.”

Joseph Clark-Bland, Morrisons’ Corporate Affairs - Charity & Community Specialist, said: “We were delighted to have Marie Curie volunteers collecting for this year’s Great Daffodil Appeal across all of our stores. We’re really thankful to our colleagues for supporting Marie Curie volunteers during the week, and to our customers who donated and wore a daffodil, all to help raise over £766,000 which is an incredible achievement.”