Asda Foundation spreads magic this Christmas by doubling green token donations
We're sprinkling a bit of Christmas magic to our green token scheme by doubling the amount of money the featured good causes will receive.
In celebration of the Asda Foundation's 30th birthday, the local charities, groups, schools and good causes nominated at all our larger stores will see their donation doubled as part of our campaign to make Christmas extra special.
The charity receiving the most green tokens will receive £1,000 instead of £500, with the other two runners up receiving £500 each instead of £200. Over 1,500 local charities and causes across the country will benefit from the boost in funding this Christmas, thanks to a £1 million investment by the Asda Foundation.
To help gain support for their cause each shortlisted charity will receive a magical green jar, like the one which features in our Christmas advert, and be encouraged to share their news in their local area and encourage customers to vote. The jar was delivered with a note advising them that they are now in the running to receive double the amount they originally anticipated.
Some of the good causes featuring in the latest green token vote have been posted about it on social media. Here's a selection of twhat they're saying:
Tim Scott, senior manager for the Asda Foundation, said: “We’re really excited to be spreading the magic this Christmas by supporting three local charity groups with double the donation they were expecting as part of our Green Token Giving Scheme. We couldn’t be happier that this Christmas the Asda Foundation are doubling their investment meaning we will be donating £2,000 across all three shortlisted groups with the winner set to receive £1,000 – don’t forget to go into store and vote.”
Our community champions are also presenting local good causes with donations to help them spread festive cheer this Christmas. Here are some of the most recent donations:
In Newton Abbot, the Asda Foundation donated £1,000 to help pay for 800 children to take part in an amazing adventure on the Santa Special steam train. The store's community champion Jane Entwistle, pictured above with the wonderful volunteers from Newton Abbot Rotary Club who are supporting the scheme, said: "It's great to make Christmas extra special for all the deserving children aboard the Santa Special steam train ride. Thank you to Asda Foundation for awarding this trip an amazing £1,000."
Here's Sarah Cranswick, the community champion at our Mount Pleasant store in Hull, presenting a cheque for £2,229 from the Asda Foundation to the Alzheimer's Society. The donation from the Asda Foundation matched the fundraising efforts of colleagues at the store who took part in a memory walk for the charity.
Our Wigan store's community champion Charlene Frodsham presented a cheque for £1007.05 to Pemberton Community Association to support their Christmas fair. She said: "Santa came to visit, switching on the lights along with his elves and Captain Jack Sparrow! It was a fabulous day that wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing volunteers at Pemberton Community Association who have been bringing the community together for 15 years. Well done to the real community heroes!"
Here's Sinead Hich, our Newark store's community champion, presenting a cheque for a Christmas grant of £319.63 to Russell House, who are part of Framework.
The money will be used to hold a Christmas party for 70 of their service users who would otherwise not attend a Christmas party. This also includes a gift for each person who attends.
Our Boston store is supporting lots of local good causes in the run-up to Christmas. It's got a gift appeal trolley in the store accepting donations for Centrepoint Outreach, a local charity supporting the homeless and lonely and vulnerable people in our community.
The store's community champion Stephen Bromby said: "Until December 24th, we will have a special trolley set up behind the checkouts to accept donations of such items as cold weather clothing, toiletries and underwear for men, and flasks which will then be passed to the charity's team of workers to distribute to street sleepers.
"We will also be providing grants during the Christmas period to further spread the Christmas magic in local communities. One grant will provide an all day drop-in Christmas buffet at Centrepoint Outreach. A second grant will provide a Christmas get-together at Crossroads Lunch Club based at Boston's Restore Church. This will allow anybody who feels lonely or socially excluded to pop along, meet people and enjoy a meal. And a third donation will help to fund a special Christmas meal for the elderly at Age UK Lincoln and South Lincolnshire's social dining group to be held at Richmond House. Further funding has been allocated to go towards purchasing a set of tracksuits for Boston United Community Football Club Under-12s to help them during training sessions."
The nominated charities for the store's green token vote are Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire, Lincs Ark and East Lincolnshire Downs Syndrome Family Support Group. The store will also carry on acting as a collection point for Boston's Trussell Trust Food Bank.