Argos corporate news
Argos hits the magic million for hospice care – with four months still to go
12 March 2007
In just 19 months of its partnership with Help the Hospices, Argos has raised over £1 million for the hospice movement, benefiting Help the Hospices and 215 hospices in the UK & ROI in their essential work caring for patients with a terminal illness and their families. This huge achievement is nearly twice as successful as the company's previous relationship which raised £600k in the same time frame.
"This has been our most successful partnership to date," said community affairs manager, Lorna Liggett. "The total so far equates to £1,800 per day of the partnership. The endless enthusiasm of Argos staff and customers means that we were able to smash our forecasted total for the two year partnership in just one year and reach the magic million mark. This will help hospices provide more care for families when they need it the most."
Help the Hospices corporate fundraiser, Anne Seymour, explained that hospices are the largest fundraising cause in the UK: "They must collectively raise over £400 million every year to keep going. A key benefit of the Argos relationship is that the money has been banked regularly so many hospices are already benefiting from the money that's been raised."
Twenty two hospices have so far each benefited by over £4,000 through the partnership. Ty Hafan Children's Hospice in Wales has received the biggest donation during the partnership at almost £13,000.
To ensure that Argos staff in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) could also help to support their local communities Help the Hospices has, for the first time, teamed up with the Irish Hospice Foundation to work on a joint relationship. To date €50,000 has been raised in the ROI.
Argos is also helping support the Hospice Information service which desperately needed a cash injection. The company's innovative Tick to Give scheme enables customers to tick a box on their selection slip to donate 20p to the service, raising over £158,000 so far: the equivalent of over 790,000 customer ticks!
The remainder of the money has gone to Help the Hospices to help fund its work supporting hospices through grants and a wide range of other services.
However, the company is not resting on its laurels as it has still got four months of fundraising support planned for the charity. In stores over the Easter period Argos will be selling Yolky Folk, a children's egg decoration kit with all monies to Help the Hospices.
