poundland

Poundland has raised nearly £800,000 for charity from the plastic carrier bag charge.

The cash, which has been raised from the 5p bag charge in stores across England, Scotland and Wales, will go to existing charity partners Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research Wales.

In Scotland and England, the funds will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, bringing total donations to over £2m since the retailer partnered with the charity in 2009.

“We would like to thank Poundland for this donation, which will help Macmillan to deliver essential support to the growing number of people living with cancer in the UK,” said Macmillan head of partnership Nicola Keith.

“Reaching a fundraising total of over £2m is a tremendous milestone that all colleagues and customers should be very proud of, as all of the money will help Macmillan ensure that no one has to face cancer alone. Support like Poundland’s is more important than ever as we know that by 2020, almost half of the population will get cancer at some point in their lives.”

Cancer Research Wales was chosen as the charity by store colleagues in Wales and will go towards vital research into new cancer treatments.

“We are hugely grateful to Poundland for choosing to support Cancer Research Wales via its carrier bag charges,” said Cancer Research Wales fundraising manager Laura Priddle.

“Small donations have gone a long way and raised a really significant amount of money, which will stay in Wales and go straight to leading teams of scientists who are making exciting advances in the fight against cancer.”

Poundland CEO Jim McCarthy added: “I am delighted and extremely proud to make today’s announcement in support of these three incredible charities,”

“Cancer is something that affects most of us at some point in our life. Nearly £800k will go a long way in providing vital work across the UK to the charities and reaching over £2m for our national charity partner Macmillan is amazing and testament to the continuous support from our colleagues and customers.”