Tesco announces major charity partnership with Diabetes UK hoping to raise £10m
Howard Lake | 4 March 2013 | Blogs
Author: John Thompson, director and consultant at Changing Business
Tesco has announced a major new charity partnership with Diabetes UK to help create a healthier future for people affected by diabetes or at risk of developing it.
The partnership, launched as the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK reached three million for the first time, will see Tesco, its customers, staff and suppliers aim to raise £10 million, the biggest donation ever pledged to the charity.
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Part of this funding will be spent on pioneering research into a vaccine for Type 1 diabetes – the type not linked to lifestyle or weight – that offers real hope for thousands of children and adults across the globe for a future without this type of the condition.
The partnership will also fund the biggest ever public awareness campaign on Type 2 diabetes risk factors, aiming to reach the estimated seven million people at high risk from the condition.
Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said: “I am delighted Tesco has made Diabetes UK its National Charity Partner, as this will make a real difference in curbing the rise in the condition by funding the biggest ever public health campaign on risk factors and symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.
“It is also great news that the money raised by the fantastic fundraising efforts of its customers, staff and employees will pay for a series of Living with Diabetes Days that will give people with Type 2 diabetes the information they need to manage the condition.
“Crucially, research into a future without Type 1 diabetes is at an extremely exciting point and so there is a real chance that the millions of pounds of new research the partnership will fund could make the breakthrough that leads to a future without this type of the condition, a lasting legacy for the partnership and for children and adults worldwide.”
Rebecca Shelley, Group Corporate Affairs Director at Tesco, said: “Diabetes affects millions of families and communities across the UK and as today’s news confirms, the number of people with this condition is increasing.
“Thanks to this important partnership, we have the opportunity to inspire our colleagues and customers to come together, raise awareness and much needed funds to help the millions of people with diabetes in the UK.
“From helping our customers take action to reduce their risk of Type 2 diabetes through our network of pharmacies, to investing in groundbreaking research, we’ll be using our scale to support everyone affected by, and at risk of diabetes.”
More:
http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=17&newsid=750
Interesting use of the phrase “National Charity Partner” in the official press release rather than “Charity of the Year”. That made me wonder if Tesco was preparing to ultimately move towards more long-term strategic partnerships and away from its traditional one year adoption so coveted by UK charities.
For example, this is how Tesco announced Alzheimer’s Society as its “Charity of the Year” in 2011 as:
Alzheimer’s Society release new dementia figures on day of Tesco Charity of the Year announcement
“The Tesco Charity of the Year partnership, launched today (1st March) will fund new research, dementia support professionals to help those living with the condition, and a Dementia Community Roadshow that will travel around the UK raising awareness of dementia and encouraging people worried about their memory to visit their GPs.”
http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=17&newsid=395
And then announced Cancer Research UK as its “Charity of the Year” in 2012 with:
“TODAY, 10 January 2012, Tesco is aiming to raise over £10 million to help Cancer Research UK’s work to beat cancer by making Cancer Research UK its Charity of the Year in 2012”
http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=17&newsid=512
That being so, I asked Tesco’s Matt Francis about this shift in terminology and what it meant. Commenting on the use of the phrase “National Charity Partner” as opposed to “Charity of the Year”, he told me:
“This year, we’ve chosen the phrase National Charity Partner as opposed to Charity of the Year as that gives both Tesco and Diabetes UK the flexibility to work together for an extended period of time and in a more strategic way. We feel that our customers and staff will appreciate this move, especially as the number of people with diabetes is increasing. We haven’t yet decided what this time-scale will be nor when we’ll be requesting proposals from charities looking to be our next major partner.”
Well, this move makes sense to me not least because £10m is a very ambitious fundraising target to reach in a year. It also makes sense from a strategic perspective. Rising levels of diabetes will fix supermarkets firmly under the media’s and health campaigners’ microscopes, as they focus on how major grocers (and suppliers/manufacturers) label and promote food & drink products.
Whilst I don’t think this move sounds the much-mooted death-knell for all such Charity of the Year programmes, other companies will have noted Tesco’s continual shift towards aligning itself with major health-based charities that are experts in issues that could affect a large number of its employees and customers. And, of course, its bottom-line and reputation.
As with everything in life, it’s all about balance and, when you weigh up the benefits for both parties, I feel this new relationship has the potential to scale new heights in the CCI and CSR arenas.
John Thompson, Changing Business
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/john-thompson/0/898/a5
@jtchangingbiz
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.