SPAR awards £100,000 to charities across UK

SPAR UK has awarded more than 50 charities and local causes across the UK with grants of up to £10,000 to help local voluntary or community organisations on behalf of its shoppers.

With over 10,000 entries to the Community Cashback campaign this year, 54 charities have been chosen to receive the grants to help communities that need support the most.

Now running for three years, SPAR has committed to providing funding for a variety of charity organisations including those that care for people in their communities and make a difference where it matters.

As part of the 2024 campaign, the selection of charities chosen includes those helping people find emergency accommodation, accessing therapy dog services, raising awareness of water safety, and looking after those at the end of their lives:

• Contact Hostel provides support and accommodation to homeless teenage girls and young women from in and around the Manchester area

• Oliver’s Army provides assistance and therapy dogs to support children and adults with various conditions, from autism and ADHD to physical disabilities in Scotland

• St Luke’s Hospice is a charity that cares for people approaching the end of their life in Harrow and Brent

• River & Sea Sense serve the community by providing Water Safety Education and training sessions to schools, youth groups, and service organisations in North Wales

• CAAP is a charity formed by a group of parents of children with additional needs, to support families to access activities during school holidays

Ian Taylor, Retail and Brand Development Director at SPAR UK said: "Our grant scheme is aimed at supporting and giving back to the communities where our stores are located. We've seen first-hand how much last year's grant winners have benefited from this scheme and know that together, we are making a real difference in communities.”

Helen Gazard from Contact Hostel shared what it meant to receive the grant: “We are so grateful to SPAR Community Cashback for this grant. This funding will enable us to continue making a positive difference in the lives of every girl who comes through our doors, enabling them to go forward and thrive.”

Tracy Feeley at Oliver’s Army Assistance and Therapy Dogs added, “Receiving this grant means everything to the charity. It will enable us to increase the impact we have on the local community and the people within it. We hope to be able to train more therapy dogs to work with services such as creative therapeutic intervention for children.”

John Clifford at St Luke’s Hospice continued: “We will use the grant to improve the quality of our Patient Garden furniture to allow the people we care for in our Inpatient Unit to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of our award-winning gardens.”

Debbie Anne Turnball MBE at River and Sea Sense, lost her son 18 years ago when he drowned, and set up the charity to warn others of the danger: “Receiving the grant will make a huge difference to our organisation and will literally save lives by educating young people and parents as to the dangers of open water. Since the drowning of my son in August 2006 I have educated over 780,000 young people across North Wales and beyond on open water safety.”

In Northern Ireland, 20 local organisations were chosen to receive a grant. Many of the recipients commented on the fact that this local grant can be processed quickly to allow for summer schemes to take place in the coming weeks. Positive Futures Lakeland Family Support Service, which supports children with learning disabilities and their families in the Enniskillen area, said, “We would use the grant to expand our summer scheme offering, currently limited by reduced funding, to add additional events.”

To launch the community grants SPAR commissioned a study* of 2,000 adults across the UK to discover what they felt made up the perfect community - with helpful neighbours, regular volunteers and a decent local pub coming out top.

One in five of those polled (19 per cent) help out at local organisations and charities in their area, with 30% previously volunteering in their neighbourhood. Of those, a quarter do so two or three times a week – most likely at charity shops (22 per cent) or as part of community development schemes including litter picking and Citizens Advice volunteers (22 per cent).

Nearly half (46%) volunteer because they want to make a difference, and 43 per cent like helping the people in their area. And 40 per cent agree that there are people in their neighbourhood who deserve special recognition for helping others.