Lindsay Lutton, NICHS, Mary Cassidy, MACE, Eamonn Baker, NICHS, Paul Irvine, Musgrave MarketPlace, and Diane Anthony, MACE.
Staff and customers from Musgrave Northern Ireland’s MACE stores and Musgrave MarketPlace branches, along with wholesale sister brand Drinks Inc., have recently hit a milestone of raising a staggering £418,000 for local health charity, Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS). The retail and wholesale group began working with the charity in 2016 and since then the partnership has gone from strength to strength, helping rebuild the lives of thousands of local people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions.
Over the years, members of staff from across 80 MACE stores and Musgrave MarketPlace branches in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry have taken part in a variety of fundraising events including static cycles, raffles, Jolly Jumper Days and Christmas competitions. To celebrate International Coffee Day every year, MACE also donates 50p from the sale of every Frank and Honest coffee purchased in-store over a three-day period to the charity.
The charity partnership has thrived over the past nine years, and is not solely focused on raising funds. MACE also actively supports Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke’s annual blood pressure awareness campaign. The retailer does this through its social media channels, as well as in-store with posters and flyers to highlight the link between heart attacks and strokes and undetected high blood pressure to customers and staff. MACE also works with NICHS’s Health Promotion team to give local communities the opportunity to access free, pop-up blood pressure checks in-store.
Gavin Adams, Director of Income Generation at NICHS, comments; “We are so grateful for the ongoing generosity of Musgrave NI, their retailers, staff and customers who, over the years, have ensured that thousands of people affected by chest, heart or stroke related conditions have received the support and care that they deserve. We would like to say a huge thank you for raising this tremendous sum of money as almost 90% of our income comes from public donations. Fundraising efforts like Musgrave NI’s are vital to the work we do, and we look forward to building on this great partnership.”
“MACE’s support of our blood pressure awareness campaign is fantastic. It helps us deliver our message around the importance of knowing your blood pressure numbers and the risk of heart attack and stroke associated with undetected high blood pressure to many people throughout Northern Ireland. Hundreds of people have been signposted to their GP after availing of the pop-up blood pressure checks in MACE stores and it is amazing to think lives have potentially been saved because of this.”
Musgrave NI Director of Marketing, Desi Derby, says: “I am absolutely delighted that our customers, retailers, and colleagues have reached this fantastic fundraising milestone of more than £400,000 for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke. At Musgrave, we are very proud to have supported the charity for nine years; it carries out vital work across Northern Ireland, making a real difference to the lives of many people. We look forward to continuing our partnership and supporting NICHS both through fundraising and raising awareness, for many years to come.”
