morrisons staff checkout

Morrisons has thrown its weight behind global charitable campaign #GivingTuesday this year - the first UK supermarket to do so.

The retailer will run “a bundle” of charitable initiatives on the day, 1 December, which has been timed to follow Black Friday (27 November) and Cyber Monday (30 November).

These will include “Dress Festive”, in which staff will dress up in return for a donation. Another will be “national bag pack” whereby volunteers, co-ordinated by the retailer’s Community Champions, will pack bags in return for donations.

All donations will be given to the group’s national charity partner, Sue Ryder.

“We are delighted to be leading the sector in showing support for #GivingTuesday,” said Morrisons head of corporate affairs David Scott.

“It provides a fantastic opportunity to highlight the work Sue Ryder does but also offers a chance for our staff and customers to come together to celebrate giving for a day.”

The campaign came to the UK for the first time last year, led by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), when the #GivingTuesday hashtag trended for 11 hours on Twitter. It first launched three years ago in the US and 13 countries now participate.

CAF’s #GivingTuesday campaign leader Kim Roberts said: “We are nearing 1,000 #GivingTuesday partners, which is brilliant, especially considering it was launched for the first time in the UK last year.”

Morrisons was “a hugely welcome addition”, she said. “The work that they do throughout the year to support charities both nationally and locally is really inspiring and we are excited that they are showing their generosity and getting staff and customers involved on #GivingTuesday.”