Local families step out in Race for Life

A group of staff and families from Stepping Stones took part in the ‘Race for Life’ at Holyrood Park on Sunday 16 June.

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life is a series of 5k or 10k women-only fundraising events, which are raising money for research to help beat all 200 types of cancer sooner.

If you missed the June event, don’t worry – there’s another one coming up on Saturday 26 October in Holyrood Park. The twilight Race for Life starts at 7pm.

For further information or to register go to http://raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org

Tesco raises £11.85 million for Cancer Research UK

Tesco staff and customers have raised £11.85 million in one year for Cancer Research UK, its charity of the year. The money was raised by staff, customers and suppliers at more than 3,000 stories, offices and distribution centres across the UK, and according to Tesco this is the largest amount ever raised by a business and charity partnership in one year.

Fundraising activities included:

treks by Tesco staff members to Everest base camp and the Sahara, which together raised over £191,000

a festive-themed ‘Cycle to Lapland’ static bike ride in Tesco stores which raised more than £1 million over one weekend

competitions inspired by TV programmes including ‘Tesco Does Strictly’ and ‘Tesco Distribution’s Got Talent’ which raised more than £68,000

In-store fundraising activities by Tesco included a donation of 0.0125p from Tesco Personal Finance PLC every time a cash machine was used at Tesco until 29 February 2013, and promotions that encouraged Clubcard customers to donate their points to the charity.

The store that raised the most money was Tesco Extra in Dundee, which raised £22,000.

The funds raised are being used for 32 early diagnosis and detection research projects helping to ensure more people receive treatment at a time when it is more likely to be successful.

During the partnership Tesco also helped Cancer Research UK raise awareness of the early signs and symptoms of cancer. Eight million health information leaflets were placed at store checkouts.

Richard Taylor, Cancer Research UK Executive Director of Fundraising and Marketing, said: “Tesco staff, customers and suppliers have gone above and beyond to raise a record-breaking amount of money for our lifesaving work over the past year. The dedication they have put into raising vital funds to help improve the early diagnosis and detection of cancer particularly during a time of economic uncertainty has been truly inspiring.”

Since 1988 Tesco has chosen a different charity every year to benefit from staff and customer fundraising. The company’s Charity Trust tops up staff fundrasing by 20% up to a maximum of £500,000.

Last month Tesco announced that Diabetes UK will be it’s next charity of the year.

Cancer Research fashion night

The cancer Research shop in Stockbridge hosted a fashion night last month at the Edinburgh Academy. This is the third year that shop manager Carrie Lennon has organised the event and after excellent evening was over Carrie said

“We raised £2600 on the night showcasing charity chic at our Charity Catwalk. The models were friends, family, volunteers and regular customers and they showed off top brands including Versace and Dolce and Gabanna. All of the clothes were items that had been donated to the Stockbridge branch by the public, and were all for sale after the show. We wanted to show off the amazing things that we get regularly donated to our store and show just how fashion forward you can be while supporting a worthy cause.”

A large number of people turned out for the Cancer Research fashion night. (Picture: Carrie Lennon)

“This is the third time that myself and key volunteers at the Stockbridge branch have hosted this fashion night, and this year our grand total was £500 more than last years”!