Pre-Christmas cheer at Action Cancer

There are over half a million reasons for pre-Christmas cheer at Action Cancer this December, with news that independent retail group Musgrave SuperValu-Centra's (MSVC) donations have reached the £500,000 mark.

The financial contribution is believed to be one of the largest ever made to a Northern Ireland charity by a local company.

Since the start of the award-winning partnership with the charity in 2001, the money has been generated by two long-term Cause Related Marketing campaigns by MSVC retail brands SuperValu and Centra, with most of the funds being raised by employees at the 111 SuperValu and Centra stores.

Impact on health

The partnership between the two organisations has also had significant health impact. Over 10,000 women have benefited from breast awareness advice, cervical screening and health promotion information from Action Cancer's mobile detection units since SuperValu became its sponsor in 2001.

SuperValu has also recently announced plans to fund two-thirds of a new £400,000 mobile unit, which will take to the road in 2006.

Children's health

At the start of 2003, Action Cancer and Centra launched the School Action programme which delivers healthy lifestyle and cancer prevention messages to 30,000 schoolchildren in Northern Ireland.

Action Cancer chief executive Robin McRoberts said, 'Musgrave SuperValu-Centra's support for Action Cancer services is ground-breaking in its scope, but they bring much more to the charity than money.

"With help from SuperValu and Centra we are able to reach out into the community with crucial life-saving services. This is making a huge difference to our work in educating young people about cancer prevention and bringing early detection to women."

The partnership has been recognised with numerous accolades, both locally and at a UK level, including a number of national Business in the Community corporate social responsibility awards, a Chartered Institute of Marketing Award, UK Charity Award and several NICVA Link Awards.

David Pollock, commercial director, MSVC (NI) said, "We are extremely proud of our relationship with Action Cancer as it allows us to give something back to the communities where our stores are located.

"A lot of our stores are in rural areas where screening uptake is low and by supporting Action Cancer's mobile detection service SuperValu retailers can have a positive impact on the health of female staff and customers."