A charity partnership aimed at helping individuals who have suffered a stroke to ‘survive and
thrive’ marked its midway milestone on Friday 21st February.
Scotmid Co-operative, Scotland’s largest independent co-operative and charity Chest Heart
& Stroke Scotland* (CHSS), celebrated the occasion with a giant heart to highlight the
£130,000 that has been raised to date thanks to Scotmid’s kind-hearted customers,
employees and members.
Kirsty Connell, Scotmid Membership Manager joined representatives from CHSS and three
stroke survivors – Theo van Asperen, Tony Love and Andy Coway to mark the achievement.
All funds raised from the year long partnership will go towards the provision of the charity’s
rehabilitation services and the purchase of new equipment as well as helping to increase
awareness of the support available to others who are struggling with the effects of a stroke.
Staff across Scotmid’s 179 food stores, 87 Semichem stores, 17 Scotmid Funeral branches
and 9 Lakes & Dales stores in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England have been
getting involved with various fundraising activities including a Forth Road Bridge abseil, a
special fundraising week in store to help celebrate the Society’s 160th birthday along with a
number of sponsored events and raffles to support the partnership.
Jane-Claire Judson, Chief Executive at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said: “It is amazing
that we’re only halfway through our partnership and Scotmid has already raised an incredible
£130,000 to help stroke survivors across Scotland survive and thrive!”
“Thanks to their fundraising efforts we’ll be able to help support more than a thousand stroke
survivors and their families through our rehabilitation support services. Our services support
people after a stroke to regain their confidence, achieve their personal goals and get back to
doing the things they love.”
“Everyone at Scotmid has been so engaged with our cause and has put so much effort in to
getting behind stroke survivors in our communities. It has been inspiring to see everyone’s
hard work and we can’t wait to see what we can achieve together this year!”
John Brodie, Chief Executive at Scotmid, said: “I am really proud of what our customers,
staff and members have achieved in just six months. It is testament to how much they support our core purpose of serving our communities and helping to improve people’s
everyday lives.
“I am looking forward to seeing what the next six months hold and to what else we can do to
help this amazing charity support thousands of stroke survivors to ‘survive and thrive’.”
*The year-long partnership will also benefit Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) and England’s Different Strokes.