From 1 January 2020, MedEquip4Kids, St Ann’s Hospice and JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) will each receive a share of the money dropped into the fountains, as well as working closely alongside the centre on fundraising and awareness-raising campaigns.
Since intu Trafford Centre opened in 1998, nearly £1million has been collected in total from the centre’s spectacular fountains.
Every single coin generously dropped into the water by shoppers is washed, cleaned and donated to the centre’s current nominated causes.
Over 17,000 customers voted to decide which charities would become the new Fountain Fund partners, choosing from a shortlist of ten.
Alison Niven, Centre Director at intu Trafford Centre, said: “We’re delighted to announce our partnerships with these three, fantastic charities.
“As one of the biggest shopping centres in the UK, we’re committed to supporting those doing amazing work in the local area. This means not only donating the funds from our fountains, but also providing hands-on support to the charities to run additional in-centre fundraising and awareness campaigns throughout the two-year partnership.”
The charities for 2020 – 2021 are:
MedEquip4Kids
Ghazala Baig, Chief Executive, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be one of the Fountain Fund charities for the next two years. The funds raised will provide medical, play and disability equipment to local hospitals and health services ensuring that babies and children have access to the best possible care when they need it most.”
St Ann’s Hospice
St Ann’s Hospice provides care and support to people living with or affected by life-limiting illnesses, supporting patients across Greater Manchester.
Eamonn O’Neal, Chief Executive, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic that we’ve been chosen to benefit from intu Trafford Centre’s Fountain Fund, and we can’t thank everyone who voted for us enough for their support. 2020 is set to be an exciting year for us, as we approach our 50th birthday, celebrating half a century of providing care to local people. This will be a very special partnership at a very special time in our history, and we’re excited to get started. As a charity that has to raise £20,000 a day to keep providing services to our patients and their loved ones, the money raised will make such a huge difference.”
JDRF
JDRF is a type 1 diabetes research charity, aiming to cure type 1 diabetes for the 400,000 people living with the condition – 29,000 of which are children, with 4,000 of these living in the North West.
Karen Addington, UK Chief Executive of JDRF, said: “JDRF is absolutely delighted to be one of the charities to benefit from intu Trafford Centre’s Fountain Fund. We are a charity aiming to cure type 1 diabetes for the 400,000 UK people living with the condition. There are 4,000 children in the North West who live with it. JDRF runs a series of Discovery Day events to support newly diagnosed families. We provide information to those families about the condition and update them on the research that we fund, also enabling them to meet others affected by type 1 diabetes.”
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