Sainsbury’s Braehead And The Poppy Appeal

Since 1997 Sainsbury’s Braehead has been supporting the Poppy Appeal with the first collection raising £278. We have come a long way from there with the past 3 years totals nearly reaching £10,000 each year. These amazing totals would not have been possible without the continued support of The Renfrew Rotary Club and Poppyscotland.

Our partnership with the Renfrew Rotary Club and Poppyscotland has significantly boosted our total. With the Rotary Club volunteers manning stalls throughout the Poppy Appeal which wouldn’t always be possible to man by Sainsbury’s staff in a busy supermarket.

Planning starts early each year where we discuss who is doing what, any new corporate developments and if there is anything more we can do. Last year Sainsbury’s introduced a new policy where our store keeps and counts all monies raised and then passes it on to Poppyscotland. This was a great success in our store as it meant our Poppy collectors didn’t have to take the money home and we could count it with the machine which also saved our volunteers a lot of time. It also meant that we could get a total far quicker than we had done before.

One of the Highlights from the 2014 Appeal was the Reece Dessert Combat Troop turning up with an original WW2 Jeep and playing nostalgic 1940s Music. This event alone brought in £2,500.

Our amazing total would not be so high with out the help of the Renfrew Army Cadets which the Rotary Club arranged for us. The cadets come in each year and bag pack for us, this alone brings in roughly £2,000 a year. In return we give the cadets a day in December to come in and raise money for their troop.

Working with the Renfrewshire Rotary Club and Poppyscotland has been an absolute joy and has made my job a lot easier. The key points to our

successful partnership are:

1.Good communication with everyone in contact all year round not just at the Poppy Appeal.2.Early planning. We all get together April/May time and get everything organised.3. One key person from each organisation is responsible for keeping in touch.4.Building a good relationship with everyone involved - its nice to be nice.5.Offer to work together out with the Poppy Appeal for example we have given Poppyscotland a bag pack day in June and also offered to work with the Renfrew Rotary club on other events and they have done the same with us.

Thank you Renfrew Rotary Club and Poppyscotland and here’s to many more successful years together.