Cabragh store raises over £5,000 for Marie Curie

STAFF and customers at a Cabragh convenience store have raised more than £5,000 for end-of-life charity, Marie Curie.

The McBride Retail Spar shop was just one of 15 across Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh to hold a fundraising Blooming Great Tea Party at the start of the summer.

Across all the stores, a total of £20,000 was raised.

Local communities got involved in the initiative this year, with local businesses donating prizes for raffles and refreshments from local suppliers for tea parties across the multiple stores.

Peter McBride, owner of McBride Retail, explained, “All 15 of our stores really took the Blooming Great Tea Party to heart for another year, and we’re particularly proud of our Cabragh store where the team showed amazing team spirit and came together to raise an incredible £5,375 alone.

“Store manager, Tomas and his whole team worked with the local community, businesses, schools and community groups to make their tea party such a success. We’d like to thank our neighbours in the local community for donating a long list of exciting raffle prizes, and big thanks go to the pupils of St Mary’s Primary School and Panda Cross community playgroup who donated money they raised through a non-uniform day, which was so generous of the young people in our community.”

Just last year, the McBride Group celebrated raising a total of £100,000 for Marie Curie through various initiatives, reaching their own milestone since the SPAR partnership began in 2017. Spar stores across the North have now raised over £600,500 for the charity in just five years.

Anne Hannan, Partnership Manager at Marie Curie, said, “We want to thank the whole McBride Retail group for their continuous support, and huge fundraising success. It will go such a long way in helping families in communities across the country.

“It’s fantastic to see these stores getting their local communities involved, showing an amazing level of support with generous donations from local schools, businesses and community groups, which means so much to us at Marie Curie.”