Staff and customers at Spalding Sainsbury’s branch have raised more than £5,000 following a successful charity of the year partnership.
The money raised will go to JDRF, the type one diabetes charity, after a number of in-store fundraising days.
Volunteers helped pack shopping bags, cycling club Velo-One Cycling undertook a cycle challenge, a tombola was held and customers were treated to in-store entertainment from local singer Phil Wiggler and JDRF’s mascot Rufus the bear.
A staggering £5,451.57 was finally raised, much to the delight of both parties.
Celia Joseph, JDRF regional fundraiser for the area, commented: “We very much enjoyed our year as the Local Charity of the Year.
“It was a great opportunity to not only raise funds for JDRF’s work but to help raise awareness about type one diabetes.
“It was so nice to speak to so many people living with type one diabetes or have relatives living with the condition.
“I would like to express our grateful thanks to all the Sainsbury’s staff and customers who supported us over the year.”
Julie Ward from Sainsbury’s added: “It has been a pleasure to work with this charity over the past year.
“We have learned a lot and hope we have done well in supporting them, raising funds for future projects.
“The charity does a lot of work around diabetes in young children and has now become very close to our hearts here in store.
“We are very pleased with the amount raised and hope to support the charity further in the future.”
Type one diabetes affects about 400,000 people in the UK, 29,000 of them children. It cannot be prevented and is not linked to lifestyle factors.
The condition develops when the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
People who live with type one rely on multiple insulin injections or pump infusions every day to stay alive.
A child diagnosed with type one diabetes at the age of five faces up to 19,000 injections and 50,000 finger prick blood tests by the time they are 18.
JDRF exists to find the cure for type one by supporting research into the condition.
