Chris Tarrant has received an early Christmas present of £1 million on behalf of Cancer Research UK.
The ‘Who Wants be a Millionaire’ presenter was able to say a personal ‘thank you’ for the money raised by shoppers and staff at Morrisons, who this week smashed their £1 million national fundraising target for the charity - four months early.
Mark Harrison, Stores Director, Morrisons, handed over the massive cheque and announced a new fundraising target of £1.5m by 31st March 2010, adding a further £500,000 to the total raised.
Chris Tarrant said; "It's great to see the results of such a huge fundraising effort achieving a staggering £1m four months ahead of schedule - and to hear that another £500,000 is set to be raised on top of that. On behalf of Cancer Research UK, I'm thrilled to accept this early Christmas present from Morrisons, which I know represents vital funding for this remarkable charity.”
Morrisons employees voted for Cancer Research UK as their charity of the year for 2009/10 and its ‘Raise a Smile’ year-long fundraising campaign - backed by both staff and shoppers - started back in April. It originally set out to raise £1 million by the end of the financial year, but with another four more months to go, ‘Raise a Smile’ looks set to be Morrisons most successful charity of the year partnership to date.
The first eight months of the fundraising campaign have seen Morrisons colleagues taking part in an array of fundraising activities including coast-to-coast cycles, Pennine Way walks and hundreds of other fundraising events across Great Britain. In addition, shoppers were given an opportunity to donate cash when the partnership launched in April.
Morrisons has also just launched ‘Give the Gift of Hope’- its Christmas campaign for Cancer Research UK. Shoppers will have the chance to buy special products where a proportion of the ticket price will be donated to Cancer Research UK. These include a specially-designed Christmas tree decoration, angel pin badges and gift cards. Customers will also have the opportunity to offer donations via in-store bucket collections.
Paul Farthing, Director of High Value Relationships at Cancer Research UK, said: “We have been overwhelmed and delighted with the tremendous response from both staff and customers at Morrisions to the ‘Raise a Smile’ fundraising campaign.
“They stepped up to the challenge right from day one and their hard work has given Cancer Research UK the best present we could have hoped for this Christmas. We now hope that Morrisons continue their momentum right up to the end of the campaign to see how much more they can raise to help us beat cancer.”
Angus Maciver, Group Marketing Director at Morrisons, said: “The £1 million mark is a magnificent milestone to pass but we want this to be a record-breaking year. We hope that our early Christmas present helps to raise a smile among all those who are committed to helping fund pioneering research that will enable more families stay together for longer.”
For more information about Morrisons partnership with Cancer Research UK visit www.morrisons.co.uk/raiseasmile.