‘My Macmillan Nurse was with me from the day I was diagnosed’ – Greene King smashes fundraising target for its “We LOVE Macmillan Nurses” campaign raising vital funds for the charity
The money raised will help support even more people living with cancer across Wales
Leading pub company and brewer, Greene King has surpassed its fundraising target for its ‘We LOVE Macmillan Nurses’ campaign, raising over an incredible £900,000. The vital funds raised could pay for more than 27,000[1] hours of Macmillan nurses’ time, helping people living with cancer and their families receive essential medical, practical and emotional support.
Over the past two months, Greene King’s team members and customers joined forces to take on a mammoth fundraising mission across its 1,600+ pubs and support centres. Team members have pushed themselves to their limits by taking on extreme challenge events, such as running and trekking marathons, scaling peaks and tackling the Yr Wyddfa (Snowdonia) Sea to Summit, as well as hosting Macmillan Coffee Mornings up and down the country.
In addition, Greene King, which has been a charity partner of Macmillan for more than 11 years, recently held its biggest ever interactive pub quiz in 630 of its pubs, which raised an incredible £33,000. All of these challenges and events have been kindly supported by donations from Greene King’s generous customers.
Speaking about the impact that a Macmillan nurse can have on someone living with cancer is Clare Cullis from Blaenavon who was diagnosed with womb cancer in July 2020: “I first met my first Macmillan nurse, Gail, on 1July, 2020, on the day I had my womb cancer diagnosis. It was the middle of the first coronavirus lockdown and I will always remember Gail being upset that she wasn’t able to give me a hug due to the safety measures in place.
“We all sat in a room with our masks on while I received my diagnosis, but even though we had to stay distant, straight away I could tell how supportive Gail was. She ran through important information, gave me a very helpful book on what I could expect with instructions to contact her or any of the other nurses anytime I had any questions. I felt extremely supported even from this early stage.
My journey would have been much more difficult to deal with if it wasn’t for my Macmillan Nurses – Gail, Alison and Lisa. I’ve had the pleasure to get to know them. I strongly believe that without them, the aftercare would have been a totally different experience.”
Dr Claire Taylor MBE, Macmillan Chief Nursing Officer, said:
“Clare talks so powerfully about the impact that her Macmillan nurse has had, and continues to have, on her cancer experience. That is why support from partners like Greene King is so critical in helping us ensure that more people like Clare, receive the care they so desperately need and deserve.
“Greene King continue to set ambitious fundraising targets and have just hit an incredible £16million fundraised for Macmillan – we are so thankful for their continued support.”
Nick Mackenzie, CEO at Greene King, said,
“‘We LOVE Macmillan Nurses’ is our biggest fundraising campaign of the year, and the passion and dedication from our team members, as well as the generosity of our customers to raise as much money as possible, continues to amaze me. Cancer touches the lives of so many people within the communities that we work and live in, so it’s important for us, now more than ever, to continue to support the fantastic work that Macmillan professionals deliver every day.”
If you have been affected by cancer and would like advice, information, or a chat, you can call Macmillan free on 0808 808 0000.If you would like to find out how you can raise money for Macmillan, please visit our website fundraising ideas and inspiration.
[1] Macmillan Cancer Support internal data. Please note this estimate is based on the full cost of funding a Macmillan nurse in the NHS, including costs such as national insurance and pension contributions, and does not represent nurse salaries
