Retailer to donate £100,000 a year through Waitrose Community Matters online
Customers shopping on Waitrose.com will be able to participate in Waitrose Community Matters from today, as the supermarket extends its hugely successful charitable giving scheme to the virtual checkout for the first time. This move will see the supermarket donate £100,000 a year to national charities.
Developed initially to allow shoppers in Waitrose branches to support the local causes and charities closest to their hearts1, the retailer is expanding Community Matters1 to reflect the diverse ways customers shop in 2011. Every time Waitrose customers shop online, they will be able to select one of three national charities that they would most like to support. At the end of each quarter, a £25,000 donation will be split among the charities in proportion to the number of votes they each receive.
Now in its fourth year, the branch-run version of the scheme has seen the retailer give around £8 million of its profit to more than 24,000 charities and organisations across the UK and Channel Islands.
Tina Varns, Waitrose Community Investment Manager says: “We are delighted to be launching Community Matters online, giving all of our customers the opportunity to participate regardless of where or how they shop. As a business, we have always been committed to giving back to the community and this extension of our scheme will allow us to support and tell our customers about the excellent work of twelve national charities every year.”
Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, Cabinet Office, is really positive about the extension of the hugely successful Community Matters scheme: “In the spirit of Every Business Commits, I really like the way Community Matters empowers staff and customers to make a difference to local voluntary organisations. So I am delighted to support the move to give online customers the same opportunity.”
The first three national charities to benefit will be British Heart Foundation, The Red Cross and The Prince’s Trust. Each quarter, three new national charities will be selected to take part in the scheme.
Julian Barrell, Director of Fundraising at youth charity The Prince’s Trust says: “The Prince’s Trust would like to extend a huge and heartfelt thank you to Waitrose for giving disadvantaged young people a chance to benefit from its Community Matters scheme. Money raised for The Prince’s Trust will help young people into jobs at a time when more than a million 16-24-year-olds are out of work. The Trust is delighted to be involved with such a simple and effective fundraiser that enables online customers to get charitable at the checkout.”
British Red Cross Director of Fundraising, Mark Astarita says: "The British Red Cross is thrilled to be among the first charities to have been chosen to benefit from this new online initiative. The money raised by Waitrose customers will help us to do our lifesaving work in communities around the UK ."
Notes to Editors:
1) Community Matters launched in Waitrose branches in 2008. All 271 Waitrose shops select three local causes a month to receive a share of a £1,000 (£500 in convenience shops) donation. Shoppers receive a green token at the checkout which they place into the three labelled boxes at the store exit, allowing them to learn about and vote for the cause they elected to support. At the end of the month, each cause is given a share of the donation proportional to the number of green tokens they receive.
About Waitrose
Waitrose currently has 271 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands. Its recent strong performance has been driven by the success of the essential Waitrose range, its partnership with Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal and an unmatchable top tier of products including the ‘Duchy Originals From Waitrose’ range.
Waitrose combines the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop - dedicated to offering quality food that has been responsibly sourced combined with high standards of customer service. (www.waitrose.com)
About Waitrose in the Community
• As part of the John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose is owned by its employees who each receive an annual share in profits, ensuring an extra incentive to deliver a shopping experience that makes customers want to return.
• Waitrose Managing Director, Mark Price, is the new chairman of Business in the Community (BITC), an independent business-led charity whose purpose is to improve the impact businesses have on society.
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