The Community Rescue Service (CRS), a volunteer search and rescue service that operates throughout Northern Ireland, received the impressive top £10,000 grant to help them continue to provide their search and rescue services for high-risk, vulnerable and missing members of the community, including dementia patients, children and people in crisis.

Launched in April, SPAR announced £100,000 for charities across the UK, with 1 x £10,000, 1 x £5,000, 1 x £2,000 and 3 x £1,000 grants available for organisations to apply for in Northern Ireland.

Sean McCarry, Regional Commander of CRS commented, “We are so privileged and pleased to get this Community Cashback Grant from SPAR NI, it will go such a long distance towards the vital work that we do.

“Every pound we have is spent on the organisation and the people we go looking for. It is very difficult to keep going without grants like this and in particular, without the support of the community.

“On behalf of the CRS, all our members and our community, I would like to extend our thanks to SPAR NI and their shoppers for what is an absolutely fantastic grant that will go straight back into our local community.”

This grant will also help CRS invest in a new member of staff to build their fundraising team and place a greater focus on raising awareness, which will go a long way in ensuring the long-term survival of this vital charity.

The £5,000 grant recipient is North Coast World Earth (NCWE), a community group that is passionate about protecting the environment by tackling pollution, raising awareness and creating community-led climate action.

Belfast’s Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues (TAMHI) has been awarded with the £3,000 grant to help them continue to promote mental health in sports clubs, schools and youth groups and empowering young volunteers through training.

Three organisations have received £1,000; The Hygiene Bank NI, Listening Ear and D’Sign Arts.

Bronagh Luke, Head of Corporate Marketing at Henderson Group which owns SPAR in Northern Ireland said: “We are delighted to be able to give back to these vital charities and groups, which all make such positive impacts on their local and surrounding communities across Northern Ireland. Their services are needed now more than ever post pandemic, and it is so important to us at SPAR to be able to show continued support in every way we can.

“SPAR NI stores nurture our neighbourhoods, committing to supporting local schools, charities and suppliers.

“We hope these grants provide help to these amazing charities and groups to continue their work and grow the services they are providing.”

Caption: Members of The Community Rescue Service being presented with £10,000 grant at SPAR Milltown Rd. (L-R) Search Technician Murrough McDonagh, District Commander Barry Torrens, SPAR Milltown Rd Store Manager David Buckley, Regional Commander Sean McCarry, Assistant Unit Commander Ruari Bailey.

The post £20,000 goes to local community organisations thanks to SPAR NI scheme first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Almost doubling in size, the now 5,500 sq. ft. store offers an extended range of fresh, locally sourced products, a much larger grocery range plus a new deli, serving a range of salads, wraps and sandwiches, and a hot food counter with options for breakfast and lunch, which complement the variety of services the brothers offer in their complex on the Milltown Road.

Crawford and Richard say their aim was to provide an even more enhanced range of products and services for their local community, at a time when value and local retailing is at its most important.

Richard commented; “We have been trading with SPAR for the past 30 years, but neighbourhood retailing has never been more important than in the past few years. Our shoppers are looking for value, local products, trusted faces on the shop floor and a wide variety of everyday essentials so they don’t have to go out of town.

“The demand for food-to-go has also grown in the past few years, and we have extended our offering to include a wider variety of great quality hot food, salads, sandwiches and wraps plus three new Barista Bar coffee machines to cater for the busy passing trade, with a seating area for those who’d like to take five minutes peace with a hot drink.

The forecourt also gets a makeover with six new Solo branded pumps, all with ‘pay at the pump’ now available and a brand-new state of the art drive through car wash arriving soon.  The store now provides over 100 car parking spaces on-site and the Post Office brand in-store continues to provide a wide range of services.

The site’s well-known V2 Discount store, adjoined to the SPAR, has also had a renovation with a larger store now offering an even bigger range of products, still at great value to customers. The Bottle Stop continues to offer a superb range of beers, wines and spirits to go with a takeaway from MAO Chinese and Gareth’s chip shop.

Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Group which owns SPAR in Northern Ireland added: “Richard and Crawford are highly experienced retailers, bringing exactly what their shoppers want to their complex in Ballymoney. Their new-look SPAR is of the highest spec, includes two new self-scan checkouts to bring even more efficiency to the customer shopping experience as well as a variety of locally sourced fresh and ambient products for shoppers to top up throughout the week.”

SPAR Milltown Road has grown its local supplier roster, now stocking products from K&G McAtamneys, McErlain’s Bakery and The Cake Box, alongside Henderson’s own brand ranges from The Kitchen and the Greengrocer’s made in collaboration with local suppliers.

The store will continue to support Marie Curie, SPAR’s charity partner across the UK while also supporting local community groups and organisations.

Crawford: “We also have a defibrillator which is installed outside the store, available 24/7 should it be needed. We fundraised with our shoppers to install it, so it is owned by the whole community.”

SPAR Milltown Road is open 4am – midnight weekdays and 5am – midnight at the weekend. For more, visit spar-ni.co.uk.

Caption: Richard Henderson with Beth, Jennifer and James Henderson

The post Henderson brothers invest £1.5M in new look Ballymoney store first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.