Team members from the home improvement retailer Wickes have been busy raising funds for The Brain Tumour Charity in stores across the UK.
By Glenn Saitch
Our new partnership with Wickes launched with a bang over the weekend of Thursday 20 April to Monday 24 April. The Wickes team showed their enthusiasm for standing together against brain tumours by dressing in red to help us spread awareness and raise vital funding – joined in many stores by members of the brain tumour community.
Customers across Wickes’ 230 UK stores were invited to donate 50p when making a purchase to help us take on brain tumours together.
And we’re delighted to announce that an incredible £96,000 was raised.
As well as raising funds, this was an incredible opportunity to spread awareness of The Charity. We heard so many moving stories from people who’d been personally affected by a brain tumour diagnosis. We also appreciated the chance to share some of the challenges faced by our community with new people.
A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this event such a success, from those who were able to donate to everybody who volunteered their time to help raise The Charity’s profile at participating stores.
We’re especially grateful to the teams at Wickes for being so welcoming and making us feel so at home. Even though our partnership has only just begun, the passion, enthusiasm and creativity on display was amazing. Together we’ve got the tools to make a difference for everyone affected by a brain tumour diagnosis. We can’t wait to see what we’re able to build throughout the partnership.
Our partnership with Wickes will last for the next two years. Over the course of the partnership there will be lots more opportunities for us to spread awareness of brain tumours in stores and raise vital funds to help us defeat brain tumours – including the opportunity for customers to donate when making purchases on the Wickes website.
When our partnership with Wickes was announced, Wickes CEO, David Wood, said:
As a national retailer, it’s important to us that we use our scale for good and helping a smaller charity means we can make a real difference to them. We did this with YoungMinds and we will look to do the same again for The Brain Tumour Charity.
It was clear from the number of cancer charity nominations from colleagues, including brain tumour charities, that this is very close to their hearts and I have no doubt that they will get behind this charity with their usual enthusiasm with imaginative fund raising activities in our stores and support centres.
David Wood, CEO of Wickes
Our Interim CEO said this about partnership:
We are honoured to have been chosen to be Wickes official charity partner. This transformational partnership will be a step change in our ability to fund our growing support services, accelerate change in brain tumour diagnosis and treatment, and to invest in vital research for all those affected.
Working together with this monumental support from Wickes, we will be able to move faster towards our goals to accelerate a cure and help over 12,000 people who are diagnosed annually. We know that Wickes’ colleagues are enthusiastic fundraisers and ardent supporters and we look forward to working alongside them with drive and determination. On behalf of our entire community, our heartfelt thanks for your support and your votes.
Graham Norton, Interim CEO of The Brain Tumour Charity
