Chelmsford Star Co-operative is supporting its charity of the year, the Alzheimer’s Society, with a £61,440 donation raised through 12 months of fundraising activity.
Colleagus at the society’s food, departmental store, funeral and travel outlets took part in activities including as abseiling, skydiving, raffles, fancy dress days and book sales. They also organised a memory walk, a cupcake day and a Broadgate Tower stair climb.
And with support from volunteers, Quadrant department stores hosted fundraising Easter and Christmas events to engage the local community.
Marketing coordinator Emily Smith, who abseiled the London Orbit, said: “Chelmsford Star has always been proud to support Essex charities and we’re all happy that our customers, staff and members have helped contribute towards the fight against dementia.
“Dementia affects so many people in the UK and we wanted to not only raise a large sum of money for the Alzheimer’s Society, but also raise awareness.”
The money raised will go towards helping the 20,000 people in Essex who live with dementia. Chelmsford Star has also provided dementia awareness training for employees so they can support customers who might need assistance. The society’s Braintree department store now holds a weekly ‘Forget Me Not Café’ for those suffering from mental illness.
Chelmsford Star is now fundraising for a new charity partner, the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance. To date, it the society has raised over £450k for its Charity of the Year initiative, which started 12 years ago.
