Dunelm launches store donation initiative with Hubbub, & more partnership news
Melanie May | 24 March 2023 | News
A round up of recent corporate partnerships, including Dunelm’s initiative to direct unwanted goods to local communities who need them, and the Royal Mint’s Ramadan fundraising for Islamic Relief.
Royal Mint supports Islamic Relief throughout Ramadan
The Royal Mint is supporting Islamic Relief throughout the month of Ramadan with donations from sales of its new Kaaba 20g gold bullion minted bar. It has pledged to give 2.5% of income from every sale made during the holy month of Ramadan, from 22 March until Eid al-Fitr on 21 April. In addition, the Royal Mint has a Zakat calculator to help customers work out how much to give, as guided by the third pillar of Islam. The latest gold bar in its diversity range, it was released on 14 March, and features the Kaaba, the sacred site at the heart of the Great Mosque in Mecca. In addition, in February the Royal Mint attended three events held by Islamic Relief – in London, Manchester and Glasgow – to raise funds to support those directly impacted by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. It donated one Kaaba bar to be auctioned at each event, with the three auctions raising more than £9,000.
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AML Group teams up with The Switch on The Mac Giveback
London-based creative agency AML Group teamed up with The Switch, a charity in Shoreditch helping young people meet their potential by providing a link between education and work, to launch The Mac Giveback. This is an ad industry initiative to recycle and refurb old tech for the next generation, celebrating Global Recycling Day on 18 March.
Coronation Street receives support from MND Association for new storyline
Coronation Street has introduced a storyline on MND, supported by experts from the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The charity’s team has been advising researchers, scriptwriters and the actors involved. In a first for the television soap, a well-loved character Paul, played by Peter Ash, will receive a diagnosis of the life-limiting disease, and the storyline will follow its progression, the impact it has on him and his loved ones, and the challenges he faces as he loses his mobility, and his ability to eat and speak. Peter has also spent time with Mike Small, who like Paul worked in the building trade, who has MND, hearing how the early symptoms had affected him physically and emotionally. He’s also followed the story of Rob Burrow, the charity’s patron and rugby league legend who was diagnosed with MND more than three years ago.
Dunelm launches recycling initiative in support of local community
Dunelm has launched ‘Home To Home’ an initiative to make it easy for customers to bring good condition, pre-loved homewares from any retailer into a Dunelm store where they’ll be sorted and given to local charity partners to support the local community. The scheme, which involves 18 Dunelm stores in the North West, has been developed in partnership with Hubbub. It builds on the brand’s Delivering Joy 2022 Christmas campaign, which in 2023 saw customers and store colleagues donate 60,000 Christmas gifts to charities and regional organisations, including care homes and primary schools, across the UK. Home to Home is also the latest evolution of Dunelm’s commitment to help reduce the amount of household waste that ends up in landfill or going unused.
Vocala supports Blind Veterans UK on new system installation
Blind Veterans UK has unveiled a new ‘smart’ system at its centre of wellbeing in Llandudno in Wales which uses Amazon Echo devices to give veterans more independence and staff new ways to communicate. The system, called Alexa Smart Properties, has been installed by Amazon and Solution Provider Vocala, and enables the blind veterans to get assistance with orientation around the centre; access information like menus, entertainment, and services; and to call reception with Alexa-to-Alexa calling, using only their voice. It also benefits the care team by enabling them to make announcements and voice and video calls to other Alexa-enabled devices throughout the centre.
Co-op announces partnership with Barnardo’s to support young people
Co-op has announced a new charity partnership to bring communities together to support young people. It will be working with Barnardo’s to support 750,000 young people aged 10-25 to help improve their mental wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem, as well as helping young people and their families to meet basic needs, including access to food. Co-op aims to raise £5 million through the partnership by engaging colleagues, members and customers in a range of national and local fundraising. The initial focus will be on fundraising, but the partnership will develop to enable the charity to deliver new services in communities most at need across the UK, as identified by Co-op’s Community Wellbeing Index. In addition, an online offering will be available to help young people across the UK receive the support they need, and the partnership will also see the creation of a youth advisory group to enable young people to co-produce activity.
Film preview ticket income goes to MediCinema
To celebrate the opening of Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves in the UK via eOne, special previews will take place in cinemas across the country on Saturday 25 March. Distributor eOne and participating cinemas will donate all income received from ticket sales to support the work of MediCinema. Those taking part are: Vue, Cineworld, Showcase + Cine DeLux, Odeon, The Light, Empire, Everyman, WTW + Scott Cinemas, Savoy Cinemas, Film Centre Wells and Abbeygate Bury St Edmunds. On the same day, patients in hospital will also be treated to a special preview at the in-hospital cinemas run by MediCinema: at the Serennu Children’s Centre in Newport, the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, Guy’s and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals in London.
St Enoch Centre teams up with Tiny Changes to boost mental health support for young Scots
St. Enoch Centre has teamed up with youth mental health charity Tiny Changes, to help boost its efforts to support the mental health of Scotland’s young people. Research suggests that 10% of young people in Scotland have a clinically diagnosed mental health disorder, yet 70% of children with mental health problems have not had appropriate intervention at a sufficiently early age. The new partnership announcement coincides with Tiny Changes’ very first Make Tiny Changes Month (#MTCM), which encourages the public to fundraise by undertaking small, positive changes throughout March. Promotional videos from the charity will be played across screens in St. Enoch Centre’s shopping mall to raise awareness of Make Tiny Changes Month, with a QR code linking viewers to more information about how they can make a difference.
Dignity donates to Together for Short Lives fund
National funeral director and crematorium operator, Dignity, has donated £25,000 to an Emergency Cost of Living Fund for families of seriously ill children struggling to make ends meet. The fund, run by Together for Short Lives, is a direct response to the cost-of-living crisis. An estimated 3,000 seriously ill children require long-term ventilation to stay alive; and around 6,000 are dependent on ‘assistive technology’. Since the fund opened in November, Together for Short Lives has received over 650 applications. The £25,000 donation from Dignity will give 100 of these struggling families a £250 grant to help manage their soaring energy bills.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.