Surrey shoppers give £500

A successful sponsored bag pack at Sainsbury’s in Redhill and a collection at Lingfield’s Christmas shopping night raises £500 for charity – click here for photos

On Friday 7th and Saturday 8th December, Jigsaw (South East) staff and volunteers turned out in force to talk to Surrey shoppers and raise money for families facing the loss of a loved one.

Five staff members and volunteers supported Lingfield’s Christmas Shopping Night on Friday 7th December informing shoppers about our work while collecting donations. The following day, a team of ten volunteers and staff members helped customers pack bags at the tills in Sainsbury’s in Redhill in exchange for a few coins. Both staff and volunteers were hard to miss, thanks to their new branded tee-shirts – courtesy of Sainsbury’s Community Support Fund.

The generous shoppers of both Lingfield and Redhill dug deep and gave a grand total of £496.92 to Jigsaw (South East), with the majority raised in Sainsbury’s. This will go a long way in enabling the charity to continue offering advice and support to families across the county who have suffered the loss of a loved one.

The Lingfield shopping night was very well attended and proved to be an excellent opportunity to raise the charity’s profile. Sam Gyimah, MP for East Surrey, was among hundreds of shoppers at the event and came over to directly chat to staff and volunteers to find out more about our work. Additionally, local radio station Meridian FM conducted a live broadcast from the streets and Jigsaw (South East) Service Manager Carol Bason was invited on air for a live interview.

Sainsbury’s in Redhill has pledged to support family bereavement charity Jigsaw (South East) for a year through various innovative fundraising activities – the sponsored bag pack on Saturday was just one of several events that we have organised in partnership with the store.

Carol Bason, Jigsaw (South East) Head of Service said:

“As a small charity, we rely upon our dedicated team of volunteers to raise valuable funds to enable us to continue working with children, young people and adults who have lost or are facing the loss of a loved one. A huge thanks to everyone who showed up at Lingfield and Sainsbury’s in Redhill.”

With Christmas around the corner, the partnership between Jigsaw and Sainsbury’s will see several more fundraising activities taking place throughout the store including a charity book sale and more. Watch this space.

To find out more about Jigsaw (South East) or to donate, call 01342 313895 or text ‘JGSE12 £…’ and the amount to 70070.