SPAR and you

Help for heroes
Rod and Sue Kembrey from the Stanshawe Service Station/SPAR store at Yate near Bristol raised £1,300 for Help For Heroes, the national charity for Britain’s wounded servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. They held a Fun Day which featured several stalls including a tombola and raffle for a wheelbarrow full of beer. Yate MP Steve Webb was on hand to cut the cake and there were tastings throughout the day provided by various suppliers. Help for Heroes was the chosen charity of Margaret Portch who died earlier this year. She had worked at the garage for 16 years and was well loved by her colleagues and customers.

Refit raffle
To celebrate the refit at SPAR Badsey, Worcestershire, retailer George Sangha and his team decided to raffle an Apple Ipad to raise money for the Worcester Air Ambulance. George says: “We have been delighted at the response, raising over £150. This has allowed us to contribute to a worthwhile cause in this largely rural area.”

School days
Musbury Primary School near Axminster, Devon benefited to the tune of £200 from a fun day hosted by Musbury Garage owner and SPAR retailer Julian Rinaldi. Julian organised the fun day with bargains, food and wine tastings, special promotions and an array of competitions, including a ‘guess the mileage’ competition on a BMW car. Proceeds from the competition were given to the school. Julian explains: “I was a pupil at the school and coached the school football team for 10 years. We are a family business and have been in Musbury for nearly 30 years, and many ex-pupils are now customers. Helping to raise some money for the school to spend on new ICT equipment seemed to be the perfect fit.”

Helping the hospice
Alfred Jones (Warrington) Ltd’s SPAR store at Woolston recently held a Coffee Morning to help local tradesmen Paul Hickey and Tommy Sutton raise funds for St Rocco’s Hospice in Warrington.
The event raised £475. The money was made through the sale of coffee and cakes. There was also face painting for the children and the store had collection boxes in place for six weeks. Alfred Jones would like to thank the suppliers that contributed to the event, especially Roberts Bakery, Warburtons and Coca-Cola. Paul and Tommy carried out a marathon cycle challenge, running to the top of the Old Man of Coniston fell in Cumbria, then cycling to Switzerland to run a marathon up the Jungfrau which is over 4000m high.

A meat-free feast
Irish celebrity chef Jenny Bristow (pictured, far right) has hosted a very special barbecue at SPAR Comber Road in Dundonald, Belfast. Jenny led celebrations for National Vegetarian Week by cooking a tasty vegetarian barbecue for customers to enjoy. Dishes included roasted Mediterranean vegetables, healthy vegetarian wraps and summer fruits. Jenny’s TV series, Jenny Bristow Light, was sponsored by SPAR and VIVO, and this event was supported by our Regional Distribution Centre for Northern Ireland, the Henderson Group. Pictured with Jenny are Sarah Bell, Group PR Executive at Henderson Group, and Ed Smyth, Store Manager, SPAR Comber Road.

Encouraging enterprise in young people
Sixth-form students from seven Walsall schools came together recently to compete for the title of SPAR Social Entrepreneur at the Bescot Stadium. The event was designed to show how businesses can accomplish goals that enhance social and environmental concerns, and was organised by Walsall Education Business Partnership and A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd, SPAR’s distributor in the south-west. Brownhills Community College scooped the trophy with their ‘Two Wheelers’ delivery service concept which looked to deliver to customers with mobility problems.

All present and correct
James Hall & Co, our SPAR distributor in the North, works closely with Fulwood High School and Arts College in Preston, Lancashire, and provides Young Enterprise Business Advisors each year. On top of this, to encourage good attendance, Hall & Co has recently supported a scheme that gives prizes to children with the best level of attendance. The children – who achieved an attendance record of 98-100% – each won a bike. The lucky winners are pictured with Robert Seed (centre left) and David Moyes, Manager of Everton Football Club (centre right), following a presentation at an end-of-year assembly.

Sowing the seed
To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we have planted 2,700 trees at 32 sites across the UK. One tree was dedicated to each and every SPAR store, and each retailer was given an individual certificate, which they proudly displayed. The first tree – a yew – (pictured) was planted at Merry Hill near Bushey by (left to right): Caroline Prout, Woodland Trust Corporate Fundraising, Mike Blowing, SPAR store owner, Great Kingshill, Susan Darbyshire, SPAR Marketing Director, and Alistair Crow, Woodland Trust Officer for Merry Hill.

Super bike challenge
David and Lynn Lewis from SPAR Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire recently held a fundraising event to support a team of local firemen who cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats – over 1,020 miles! Children from the local village found out what it would be like to be a fireman, and Lynn and Dave supplied everyone with delicious homemade cakes, a selection of savoury snacks and tea and coffee. The firemen, Bob Paterson, Neil Godfrey, Steve Jordan and Owen Pates, were cycling to raise awareness of the importance of wearing a seatbelt in a car and to raise money for the Fire Service Benevolent Fund.

Party time!
Every year in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, locals gather for the village festival, which runs for four weeks and culminates in Festival Day, held on the first Saturday in July. In the weeks leading up to Festival Day, events such as a Jazz Evening, Cheese & Wine Evening, Tug Of War and Children’s Party are held. Festival Day itself sees various stalls, children’s rides, face-painting and entertainment taking place. Thanks to a strong community bond, the event is well supported and attended by local people, and the two SPAR stores in the locality, SPAR Rhiwbina and SPAR Llanishen Fach, are the event’s main sponsors.

Healthy kids
Recently, a number of SPAR stores in Scotland have been involved in sponsorship of Eco Fairs and Healthy Living events. Over 100 pupils at St Fergus Primary School in Dundee learned about health and the environment at their Eco Fair, and SPAR supplied free water, apples and bananas for the children.

In fine voice
Chris and Sue Sharrinton, owners of SPAR Helston, Cornwall, supported the choir from a local school in their bid to win the BBC’s Songs of Praise School Choir of the Year competition by providing them with goody bags for their long journey to Manchester for the final. The bags contained yoghurts, fruit smoothies and apples and bananas, and a few treats, too – a packet of crisps and a small chocolate bar! The final, held at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, involved three schools, and St Michael’s came second.

Room for the elderly
St. George’s Day Centre in Saltash, Cornwall, provides day care for the elderly and physically challenged. The centre found itself looking for a new car park when its parking facility was withdrawn following expansion. Luckily, Dave Houghton, Transport Manager for Appleby Westward, heard about the problem and offered space in the lorry park on the company’s Moorlands Trading Estate site. He said: “We were only too happy to help. We have ample space to accommodate the buses, and we are also able to offer 24-hour security.”

Healthy eating
SPAR Meigle in Scotland generously assisted with Meigle Primary School’s Healthy Living Week with a presentation for the children, demonstrating the importance of healthy eating. The children were given free samples to taste including watermelons, starfruit and mangoes. Pete and Kay Cheema (pictured below), who run the SPAR in Meigle Square, have been keen to work with the school, donating goody bags with fresh fruit and yoghurts, and also sponsoring the school’s sports day.