NI members raise over £32,000 for GroceryAid

GroceryAid Northern Ireland branch members have raised more than £32,000 for the charity thanks to an innovative Summer Picnic Hamper initiative and a successful Golf Day.

As the branch has to cancel this year’s annual Grocer’s Ball due to Covid, its traditional hamper fundraiser was evolved into the Summer Picnic initiative. Nearly 200 hampers were sold to retailers at a cost of £100 each, with all food, product, design, print and logistics being donated by the grocery trade.

“The great thing about this initiative was that retailers either raffled the hampers or rewarded them to staff who had gone the extra mile,” Derby Desi, from Musgrave who led the hamper initiative, said. It was an incredible effort by the NI committee; everyone put their shoulder to the wheel to ensure we could raise as much money as possible whilst minimising cost.”

The GroceryAid Golf Day, which was held at Malone Golf Club, Belfast, saw more than 100 people from the food and drink industry gathered for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

“After last year’s event being sadly cancelled, it was fantastic to see so much support from the industry. The sun shone, the craic was mighty, with a massive amount of money raised for the charity. With the industry still facing extremely challenging times, it was great to be able to relax, socialise and have some fun after what has been a very lengthy and difficult period for all,” Jonathan McWhinney, Tesco executive and NI GroceryAid Committee Member, said.

In NI, 25 people received ongoing counselling support along with 43 people benefiting from financial support totalling £63,000 in 2019/20.