Members of Team SPAR who Beat the Trails for Marie Curie along Hadrian’s Wall have raised £17,410 for the UK’s leading end of life care charity.
More than 60 people from James Hall & Co. Ltd took on the trek in July, including office, manufacturing, and warehouse colleagues, retail teams from the G&E Murgatroyd SPAR company stores division, and SPAR independent retailers.
The money raised by the Hadrian’s Wall Beat the Trails trek is enough to fund the equivalent of 544 hours of hospice bereavement support, or 12 weeks’ worth of overnight care carried out by Marie Curie Nurses and healthcare professionals.
Marie Curie has been in partnership with SPAR since 2017. To celebrate the funds raised, a presentation was held at the company’s SPAR Distribution Centre in Preston where trek participants were joined by Marie Curie Senior Healthcare Assistant, Karla Wareing, Senior Partnership Lead, Jim Smith, and Corporate Partnerships Manager, Victoria Simkins.
During the visit, Jim and Victoria dropped into Alston Dairy too where they met Founder Ann Forshaw and Ann’s granddaughter Emma Baker, Managing Director of the Dairy, and Joint Head of Manufacturing at James Hall & Co. Ltd.
A new 20p charity contribution was announced from the Ann Forshaw’s banana milkshake dispensed from the brand’s six Milk Sheds at locations across the North of England, adding a further fundraising element to the partnership between James Hall & Co. Ltd and Marie Curie.
Jim and Victoria also enjoyed a tour of the Dairy facilities and a tasting of Ann Forshaw’s yoghurts – including the seven recent Great Taste Award winning varieties.
The whistle stop trip was rounded off at SPAR Brownedge Road in Lostock Hall where they met Store Manager Trent Donnelly to discuss the partnership in action.
Peter Dodding, Sales Director at James Hall & Co. Ltd and Chair of the SPAR Northern Guild, said: “Our 2026 charity trek was a tough up-and-down route through the remote Northumberland countryside, with the additional challenge of battling a relentless headwind along the way.
“Every step taken and every mile walked has helped us to raise an amazing amount in support of Marie Curie’s work across the UK. A huge thank you to everybody from across the business who completed the walk, and to those who generously donated to a wonderful cause.”
Emma Baker, Managing Director of the Dairy, and Joint Head of Manufacturing at James Hall & Co. Ltd, said: “It was a pleasure to host Jim and Victoria at Alston Dairy. I never tire of sharing the heritage of our brand and its beginnings as a family business in 1983, as well as our 24-hour farm to pot ethos which we are rightly proud of for its uniqueness.
“We are passionate about what we do at Alston Dairy, and I am pleased the passion that goes into creating our popular products – and in particular our banana milkshake – is now contributing to helping fund more compassionate care delivered by Marie Curie’s dedicated teams day in and day out.”
Victoria Simkins, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Marie Curie, said: “Jim and I had a fantastic day with the team at James Hall & Co. Ltd. Visits like this are very important for developing understanding of business operations and for strengthening ties between our respective organisations.
“We are a hugely grateful to Team SPAR for raising an incredible amount through the Hadrian’s Wall trek and the new contribution through the delicious Ann Forshaw’s banana milkshake was a wonderful surprise. It will be a great supplementary funding stream for the partnership.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
Marie Curie supports people with any illness they are likely to die from including Alzheimer’s (and other forms of dementia), heart, liver, kidney and lung disease, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, and advanced cancer.