Sainsbury’s Littlehampton: Store staff praised for initiative in raising money for Care for Veterans charity

Littlehampton mayor Michelle Molloy joined staff at the store for the presentation of a cheque to Christine Gillott, senior fundraiser at Care for Veterans.

Fundraising was led by the Great Place to Work group, which encouraged people to donate to the charity to ensure it had support during the Covid-19 crisis.

Group member Tracey said: “Both my parents served in the forces, my dad was a Buff, and my mum was a nurse in the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, so supporting a veterans’ charity is amazing.”

Care for Veterans specialises in helping those with an acquired brain injury or a degenerative neurological condition, such as multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s.

Rong Heaslewood, store manager, said: “We are very proud of all our colleagues, and the Great Place to Work group, who are very enthusiastic and take the initiative to help.”

Miss Molloy spoke to the team about their work and praised their efforts.

She said: “I am proud of all the hard work from Sainsbury’s throughout the pandemic and their fundraising efforts at such a challenging time.”

The charity receives no regular Government funding and must raise more than £1.5million each year to maintain its nursing and rehabilitation services for ex-service personnel and their immediate families.

Christine said: “We are so thankful to all the colleagues and customers at Sainsbury’s Littlehampton for supporting Care for Veterans during this most challenging time.

“Our regular fundraising activities during the pandemic had to be postponed and this had a huge impact on raising much-needed funds.

“The fantastic amount raised would provide 80 physiotherapy sessions. Physiotherapy is an important part of rehabilitation and just a couple of sessions a week can enable a disabled veteran in our care to achieve major goals for improved quality of life and independence.”

For more information about Care for Veterans, visit www.careforveterans.org.uk, call 01903 213458 or email [email protected].