M&S stores across Cambridge have been raising funds for NHS Charities Together over the last few months and customers have already raised over £20,126.08.
All money raised for NHS Charities Together goes towards helping local communities, and Cambridge-based NHS charity, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, is one of a number of recipients of a recent donation.
Part of the vital funds from NHS Charities Together supported the purchase of high-tech equipment during the pandemic, including 48 iPads, which enabled patients to safely communicate with their loved ones. Donations have also supported a new initiative set up by The Florence Nightingale Foundation during the height of the pandemic to offer leadership support sessions to nurses and midwives at Addenbrooke’s who faced new challenges in their roles as a result of Covid-19. These sessions were also designed to provide emotional well-being support for colleagues during the crisis.
Recognising the long-term effect Covid-19 has had on people’s physical well-being, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust also used some of the funds towards specialist wheelchairs and wheel frames for people recovering from the virus, who were struggling to get back to full health. A variety of welfare and care items including arts and crafts materials were also supplied to patients who needed to keep mentally stimulated and occupied each day whilst in care.
M&S’s partnership with NHS Charities Together, has so far raised over £7.4m* across the UK for NHS good causes.
Donations from M&S have been raised through a number of initiatives, including the retailer’s Rainbow Sale (where 10% of each purchase, excluding VAT, is donated to NHS Charities Together), limited edition NHS Charities Together Bags for Life, M&S’s All in This Together T-shirts and through one-off donations at the till points. Throughout August, customers will continue to have the opportunity to donate to NHS Charities Together.
Lee Boon, M&S Head of Region for East Anglia said: “Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust plays an essential role supporting the Cambridge community and we can’t thank them enough for their incredible efforts over the past few months. We’re thrilled to share the donations raised so far from our Cambridge stores and look forward to raising more funds this month with our customers’ support.”
Shelly Thake, Chief Executive at NHS Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, said: “We rely heavily on public donations to allow us to continue our work for the community – during the last few months our service has been put under more pressure than ever before, but we’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from people and local businesses alike. We’d like to thank M&S customers and colleagues across Cambridge for their generous donations, which have gone towards a variety of initiatives to support the physical and mental well-being of our heroic colleagues and patients at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.”
Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust has been running for 25 years and is the only registered charity dedicated to supporting the development of innovative patient care at Addenbrooke’s. Their work supports over 1m people who visit the hospital each year. From generous donations they fund above and beyond that which can be funded by the NHS alone, from high-tech equipment, specialist staff, and extra patient comforts, through to vital research to find new diagnostics and treatments to help people locally, nationally and worldwide.
Customers can continue to get involved in lots of ways including selecting NHS Charities Together as their Sparks charity (M&S’s loyalty scheme) meaning M&S donates** on their behalf every time they shop in any store or online.
