Horsham SPAR shop raises money for childline service

SPAR staff and customers at the store in Coltsfoot Drive took part in a range of fundraising initiatives, including a special Stop 4 Tea event where staff sold tea and cakes to customers and hosted a selection of games and a raffle. They helped raised £263 towards the chain’s total fundraising amount. There have also been a number of promotions on food and drinks throughout the year to raise money for the service, which is provided by the NSPCC. SPAR has been working in partnership with the NSPCC and ChildLine since 2006 and has raised a massive £4 million to support the charity’s services, which help many thousands of children and young people every year. Money raised over the past year has supported the ChildLine Schools Service, a ground-breaking service which has been set up to give primary school children the awareness they need to recognise abuse, and to seek help sooner. By 2016 trained volunteers from the ChildLine Schools Service aim to have reached 1.7m children through 25,000 school visits in the UK. Through assemblies and smaller classroom-based workshops they will help children to understand abuse, give them the confidence to talk about it and to know who to turn to if they need help. Maribeth Lloyds, NSPCC fundraising manager said: “This has been another successful year for our partnership with SPAR. We are very grateful for the continued support and dedication shown by SPAR staff and customers, who are always keen to get involved in fundraising events. “This year the money raised has helped to support our ChildLine Schools Service across the UK, helping us keep children safe from harm, and giving them a brighter, happier future.” Patricia Wheway from SPAR added: “As a business we have been passionate about supporting the NSPCC and ChildLine for a number of years. “The ChildLine Schools Service is doing some fantastic work to keep children safe and we’re delighted we have managed to raise so much this year to help roll out this service to more schools. “We couldn’t have done this without our staff and customers across the UK. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported our fundraising activities this year for helping us to raise this fantastic amount for children.”