MADL donates £100,000 to support jubilee celebrations

Nisa’s Making a Difference Locally (MADL) charity has announced a donation of £100,000 for good causes across the UK to help celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next month.

A total of 125 groups will receive funding of up to £1,000 as part of the charity’s Heart of the Community Awards initiative to help mark the historic occasion with events such as afternoon teas, garden parties and street parties.

Nisa said the original number of winners to be selected was extended from 70 to 125 after a huge number of entries received, nominated by local Nisa stores.

One good cause to be chosen was Stalbridge Hall, in partnership with Stalbridge History Society, to help fund a four-day long village event over the Jubilee weekend.

The Stalbridge celebrations are set to be jam-packed with activities and the MADL donation will be used to hire a marquee and various entertainment, including live music from local singers and an 11-piece band, as well as to provide free face painting for children along with creative activities and a quiet reading space.

“We are thrilled and delighted to have been chosen and the money will go a long way to helping us make the celebration happen,” Nicky Ryall said on behalf of the group.

“We want this unique historic event to bring the Stalbridge community closer together and to include as many people as possible.”

Around 90 good causes across the UK have benefitted from donations totalling more than £310,000 in previous rounds of the Heart of the Community Awards, making it MADL’s biggest funding giveaway to date.

Kate Carroll, Nisa’s head of charity, said: “We received a phenomenal response to this round of Heart of the Community Awards and there was a clear appetite from communities to mark this historic occasion.

“The quality of entries was outstanding and we look forward to seeing how our fantastic Nisa retailers celebrate this exciting event with the communities they serve.”