Our community programme is celebrating a decade of supporting local good causes – and our Bodmin store's community champion Jackki Lavender says she's delighted to be able to help people in the local area.
Jackki works with a wide range of charities, schools and groups, offering her time and support, providing donations from the store, and working with our charity, the Asda Foundation, to secure larger grants.
She said: "I wasn't Asda Bodmin's community champion 10 years ago when the community programme started in its current form, but I worked with Jade, who initially took the role, and when I saw what she was achieving I was inspired and really wanted to help.
"I did a bit for her, like selling colleague raffle tickets, and when Jade left I applied for the position. I have now been in the role for a few years and really enjoy it.
"It's really important to me, and to the store, that our local community has someone they can get hold of and ask for support. We may not be able to directly help every time, but we usually know the place or person to ask to get what we need. It's not just about giving donations but also about linking people up with the right people to help them."
Jackki remembers many of the first groups she supported – and says the connections are as close several years later.
She said: "I still work with some of the groups that we helped in the beginning, like Riding for the Disabled at Lakefield. The different groups were so pleased to be helped by a big store – as being quite rural it meant a lot.
"I have really enjoyed all the things I have done whilst being a community champion, and I especially like it when the stores come together and help a good cause en masse!
"An example of that was the NHS birthday celebrations, when the three main stores in Cornwall all went and provided tea parties for three separate departments at Treliske Hospital in Truro.
"We also came together as stores and helped with the Rainbow Run for Children's Hospice South West."
Colleagues at her store regularly get behind in-store fundraising events Jackki organises, whether donations for the local food bank or support for our Tickled Pink breast cancer charity, BBC Children in Need or the Poppy Appeal, or events like World Book Day (above).
She said: "I have been very lucky with the store managers that I have worked with – they have all supported me and our community programme, and it means so much to be supported. I hope that we continue to grow, and keep our communities happy with our donations."
