Retail Industry Charitable Giving in Scotland 2016

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1 Much has been written about the changing nature of the retail industry. New technology, changing customer preferences, and different shopping platforms are all improving, disrupting, and altering the way customers and retailers interact. However, some things do not change. High Street shops and supermarkets have always been part of the fabric of the local community. Indeed, independent research has found that high street retailers and supermarkets are the top rated sectors for getting involved in their local communities. As well as businesses providing a range of goods, they are hubs which provide opportunities for people to chat, groups to meet, and good causes to be supported. That last point is crucial. Retailers have always recognised they have a responsibility to support good causes in the community. Whether that s collecting themselves for disaster relief charities overseas, or allowing the local youth group in for a fundraising bag pack, retailers provide charities both with a source of income, but also an unrivalled opportunity to engage with retail customers. That gives charities a chance not only to fundraise, but also to educate, inform, and raise awareness. It s important to note this work is not limited to registered charities. Retailers donate time and money to a whole range of good causes. This goes from helping local schools and youth groups to assisting Scottish Government campaigns. Retailers provide a vehicle to help bring good causes and the public together, something which is more and more important in our communities today. This report doesn t aim to capture the full extent of community and charitable support given by the retail industry in Scotland. The range and scope of activities supported by retailers is vast and varied, and therefore difficult to accurately quantify. However, it has been possible to capture the extent of fundraising in Scotland from those retailers who contributed to this report. In total nearly 6.2 million was raised and donated in 2016 by those Scottish retailers. That money went to hundreds of different groups, from local causes through to national charities. On top of that, the retailers who responded donated a further 4.2 million to Scottish charities through revenues raised through the Single Use Carrier Bag Charge. This report provides a flavour of the work done by these retailers to support good causes in Scotland, highlights how the data was collected, where it was distributed, and gives some examples from retailers demonstrating how they individually support good causes. It rightly demonstrates the commitment, enthusiasm and pride of the industry and those who work in it. 1

2 Members of the Scottish Retail Consortium were approached and asked a series of questions regarding the amounts they had helped to raise for good causes. All Members of the SRC were given the opportunity to reply. The following retailers provided information for this report: Asda, John Lewis, Morrisons, Livingston Designer Outlet, M&S, B&Q, Sainsbury s, Screwfix, Tesco, Waitrose. All members were asked the following questions: 1. How much money did your business raise for charity in Scotland through in-store donations and fundraising? 2. How much money was raised from the Scottish Carrier Bag Charge by your business last year (April reporting period)? 3. How much money was raised through other fundraising work for charity in Scotland? (Please feel free to include money raised for Children in Need, Poppy Scotland etc). 4. Please could you provide one example of how your organisation supports charitable fundraising (100 word limit). 5. Any other salient information on charitable giving in Scotland (payroll donation schemes and so forth)? Members were given a month to reply, and were promised all information would be aggregated to represent the work of the Scottish Retail Industry. 2

3 In total, Scottish Charities received over 10 million of quantifiable funding from retailers in million of that was through donations and fundraising, whilst a further 4.26 million donated as a consequence of the Scottish Carrier Bag Charges. A number of methods drove the donations and fundraising. The most popular approach was instore donations which led to 67 percent of funds raised within stores. The rest was made up by a combination of direct charitable donations by retailers, and through match-funding and promotional activity. These figures do not include non-financial support for charities. These tend to come in two forms: provision of space without commercial cost, and in-kind donations of products. Retailers provide space in or immediately outside stores which allow charities either to fundraise or to raise awareness. Providing this space commercially would incur a significant cost, but charities are able to benefit from this as part of a retailer s community work. These figures do not include donations of in-kind goods or products to good causes. As part of their community work retailers will often donate products to charities to help with fundraising, for example as raffle prizes. Another example is the significant quantity of unsold food donated by grocery retailers for redistribution through national partners such as Fareshare or through direct connections with hundreds of local charities. Community Health Veterans Environment Young People International Furthermore, this report does not attempt to estimate the costs of running community programmes. Some retailers have taken the decision to dedicate a number of colleague hours to support engagement with charities and community groups. Along with supporting charitable events in stores, these employees also support a number of wider projects in the community, including environmental and educational projects. A wide variety of good causes were specifically identified by retailers. These included: British Heart Foundation, Pancreatic Cancer, Tickled Pink, Poppy Scotland, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, Scottish Seabird Centre, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Spina Bifida Hyrocephalus Scotland, YMCA, Diabetes UK, Sue Ryder, Barnados, Social Investment Scotland, Glasgow Children s Hospital, and Comic Relief. A number of retailers also work with charitable foundations established by the company. There were also hundreds of local groups and charities who benefitted from donations. 3

4 Members were asked to provide a number of case studies on their charitable work which help to illustrate the wide variety of support given by retailers. Members have prepared these examples themselves, and reflect their own approaches rather than the SRC or the industry as a whole. Asda Through our award-winning Asda Community programme, every year our Asda Community Champions in our Scottish stores spend more than 17,000 hours volunteering in their local communities and fundraising for local good causes. Our stores have the autonomy to support the groups and charities that matter most to their local area, and they have been putting their passion for the communities in which they live and work to amazing use doing everything from helping local schools to grow their own vegetables to picking up litter, renovating local care homes, setting up food banks and working with the police to tackle antisocial behaviour. We ve opened our stores up, free of charge, to local groups and good causes using our foyer space, training rooms, wi-fi, cafes and car parks to provide space for the community to come together. John Lewis Partnership Contributing to the wellbeing of communities is written into our constitution by our founder, and remains a priority for us today. We encourage decision making at a local level - supporting Partners to invest their time, skills, resources and expertise to communities where they live and work. Our community investment programmes are designed around three themes - Empowerment and Livelihoods; Health and Wellness; and the Environment. Within Scotland, our branches have supported a variety of causes including Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, the Scottish Seabird Centre, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Cancer Support Scotland, Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland, the YMCA, and Barnardo's. Livingston Designer Outlet Livingston Designer Outlet chose to move forward with Barnardo s Scotland who support children with disabilities in West Lothian assisting families with profound learning disabilities and high care needs. This year the Outlet worked together with the charity to help raise the profile and vital funds, with money raised going towards a range of quality services, such as residential care or volunteer support for over 100 families in West Lothian. Magic Moments promotion celebrated and raised awareness of the charity marking their anniversary year, 150 magic moment prizes were hidden around the Outlet with shoppers encouraged to donate to the Barnardo s volunteers increasing donations and future media stories. Magic Moments was a great social opportunity allowing teaser posts in the run up to the weekend driving excitement and encouraging Outlet visits. M&S Marks & Spencer s Spark Something Good initiative aims to inspire and motivate M&S employees and customers to take action for social good by donating time in their local communities. In March 2016, the initiative was launched in Scotland, with 400 volunteers - a mix of M&S employees and customers - working to transform 24 community projects in Edinburgh over the course of seven days. M&S employees and customers lent a hand at some of Edinburgh s best charities and community projects, including The Yard, Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre and Social Bite, a charity that supports the homeless by offering the chance to enjoy a hot meal in a restaurant environment. 4

5 Morrisons Our stores in Scotland have raised over half a million pounds for our charity partner Sue Ryder throughout our partnership so far, which began in February Some of our highest fundraising stores are in Scotland, including Anniesland and Peterhead). Our partnership with Sue Ryder is giving more people the care they want at the end of their lives and providing support for their families. Sainsbury s Sainsbury s is committed to making a positive difference in the communities we serve, and we support charitable fundraising in numerous ways. One example is our Community Budget programme. Every store has a dedicated budget that can be used to support local charities and community groups throughout the year. For example, this could be used to donate prizes to a local charity raffle, provide refreshments for a school sports day, or offer a gift card for a charity to purchase food and drink for an event. Community Budgets mean we can offer support across a wide range of local groups, and stores are delighted to be able to contribute in this way. Screwfix The Screwfix Foundation is a registered charity set up in We have a clear purpose of raising funds to support projects that will fix, repair, maintain and improve properties and community facilities for those in need throughout the UK. We raise funds throughout the year to support causes that will change people's lives. We work with both national and local charities, donating much needed funds. To date we have raised over 1 million since launching in 2013, helping more than 300 local charities throughout the UK. Tesco In addition to our national charity partnerships (including Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation), we are really proud to work with hundreds of charities and local community organisations every year through relationships at a local level, with the help of our Community Champions. 50 Community Champions across Scotland act as ambassadors for Tesco within their area, working to ensure that we are a great neighbour that can bring genuine benefit to the local community. They work with their Store Manager and other shops in the region to shape how Tesco can get involved in local community events, providing support where it is most needed, and help keep our customers and colleagues up to date with the most recent activity. Retail is an exciting, diverse and dynamic industry undergoing transformational change. The SRC is at the forefront enhancing, assisting, informing and shaping. Our mission is to make a positive difference to the retail industry and to the customers it serves. Our broad range of stakeholders demonstrates how retailing touches almost every aspect of our culture. The SRC leads the industry and works with our members to shape debates and influence issues and opportunities that will help make that positive difference. We care about the careers of people who work in our industry, the communities retail touches and competitiveness as a fundamental principle of the industry s success our 3Cs. In addition to publishing leading indicators on Scottish retail sales, footfall and shop vacancies in town centres, our policy positions are informed by our 255-strong membership and determined by the SRC s Board. 5