Tuesday marked the end of Marks & Spencer’s Rainbow Sale, where 10 per cent of the purchase price of each item across womenswear, menswear, kidswear and home was donated to NHS Charities Together.
It was the first sale of its kind for the retailer, which managed to raise a total of £8 million.
This occurred alongside a number of other fundraising initiatives including M&S’s All in This Together t-shirts which launched in April, bespoke bags for life in M&S Foodhalls, and in-store till donations.
“I can’t thank M&S customers enough — £8 million is beyond what we could have ever dreamed of, the money you have raised is already making a huge difference for the NHS staff and volunteers who have been there for all of us during the Covid crisis,” NHS Charities Together chief executive Ellie Orton.
M&S is saying a big thank you to its colleagues who helped drive the fundraising total.
M&S Carlisle manager Craig Corrin suggested creating the option for colleagues to be able to directly donate their 15 per cent bonus for working during the pandemic to NHS Charities Together — an idea which was then implemented to the M&S pay roll system.
M&S is also thanking NHS workers who appeared in its marketing campaign to promote the sale and shared their stories on M&S’s website of how NHS Charities Together helped during the Covid 19 outbreak.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette’s free daily email newsletter