Marks & Spencer raises €100,000 for the Irish Heart Foundation
Marks & Spencer has presented the Irish Heart Foundation with a cheque for €100,000 to support the charity’s vital services for people across Ireland.
The cheque was presented by Eddie Murphy, M&S Country Director to Judith Gilsenan, Irish Heart Foundation Commercial Director at M&S Grafton Street, Dublin 2.
The partnership, which began in 2022, has seen M&S provide promotional and fundraising support for the Irish charity, supporting campaigns to promote heart health in Ireland and raising funds to help the charity continue to deliver services across Ireland.
The partnership kicked off in 2022 with the high profile ‘Her Heart Matters’ campaign. One in four women in Ireland die from heart disease and stroke and the campaign aimed to encourage women including M&S colleagues and customers to make small, sustainable changes for the good of their heart health.
Fundraising initiatives included donating 5c from every pack of Irish berries sold at M&S from September to October 2022 during the Her Heart Matters campaign and 5c from every hot drink sold in M&S Cafés for the month of September 2023.
In February 2023, M&S support centre and store colleagues across the 18 stores in Ireland took part in the Foundation’s Run 100 campaign, with the entire company getting behind the fundraising efforts.
As part of its commitment to team members across the company, M&S arranged with the foundation to provide free blood pressure checks and information sessions on heart health to all M&S colleagues to support the health and wellbeing of everyone at M&S.
Speaking at the presentation of the cheque Eddie Murphy, M&S Country Director, Ireland and Northern Ireland said: “The partnership with the Irish Heart Foundation has been a huge opportunity for us to give back to the Irish communities in which we live and work.
“We have experienced our own colleagues’ personal stories and the impact of poor heart health, so we know first-hand just how important it is. This inspired us to get behind this partnership and it’s been fantastic to see the entire team across the country get involved, from those who took part in the Run 100 campaign to those who availed of the free heart checks.
“Now, through the generosity of our customers, our store and support centre teams across Ireland, we’re delighted to be able to present the funds raised to the Irish Heart Foundation to continue to deliver their vital services to people in every community across the country.”
Judith Gilsenan, Irish Heart Foundation Commercial Director who accepted the cheque on behalf of the Irish Heart Foundation, added: “We’re delighted to have partnered with M&S over the past year. Every year in Ireland almost 9,000 people die from heart disease and stroke, making it one of the nation’s biggest killers.
“We all know someone affected by heart disease and stroke – a friend, family member or colleague. We are very thankful to M&S and their customers for showing their commitment to the Irish Heart Foundation and helping to improve the heart health of the nation.
“This vital donation will not only help prevent more lives being affected by heart disease and stroke. It will also help provide support and care for people living with these life-altering conditions.”
