Tesco Ireland yesterday launched its latest charitable initiative, which will see the retailer donate €1 million annually to local good causes. The Tesco Community Fund project enables Tesco customers to choose which charities will receive what proportion of the funds, with an opportunity for up to 3,500 causes to participate.
Every six weeks, each of the 136 Tesco stores in Ireland will divide €500 to €1,000 between three causes in its community. Every time customers shop in their local Tesco store, they will receive a token to place in the donation box of the cause they would most like to support. The more tokens a local cause gets, the larger the share of the donation they will receive.
Henry Drummer, marketing director at Tesco Ireland spoke at the launch at Tesco, Fleet Street, Dublin: “Our stores are at the heart of hundreds of communities across Ireland, and as a company we really want to positively contribute to each community in which we operate. We are delighted that through our Tesco Community Fund we will be donating €1 million to local good causes across Ireland and that our customers have a say in how the funding is shared.”
Tesco already works closely with community groups, charities and organisations through its 26 'Community Champions' across the country, its sponsorship of Ladies GAA and its Charity of the Year initiative.
Tina Roche, CEO, Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) commended Tesco Ireland on the launch of the Community Fund and said, “This demonstrates Tesco Ireland’s commitment to increasing its community investment. The availability of €1 million to community and charity organisations is particularly significant at this time given the decline in funding and tough circumstances facing the sector. We were delighted to recently welcome Tesco Ireland to BITCI, the network for responsible business, and we look forward to supporting and working with them on this agenda.”
The launch follows a successful pilot programme in six Tesco stores which ran from March to July 2014, and saw Tesco donate €22,000 to 50 local good causes including Wicklow Hospice, Irish Guide Dogs, Greystones Community First Responders, Gorey Girl Guides and more.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
