Charity starts at The Mall Blackburn

19th January 2017

The Mall Blackburn is on the hunt for a proactive, not for profit organisation to become its Charity of the Year for 2017.

After a hugely successful partnership with Lancashire Mind during 2016 management are looking for another deserving charity to support as part of its popular Mall Cares programme.

Management at the shopping centre are currently finalising the total amount raised during 2016 from activities including bucket collections, awareness raising events and supporting the annual Mental Elf fun run as well as donating a unit free of charge, which was utilised as a charity shop.

Charities that would like to be considered should complete the online application to outline how they would make the most of the partnership and what ideas they have to raise funds and awareness within the shopping centre.

Fabienne Clough, Fundraising Coordinator at Lancashire Mind, said: “We have really enjoyed working with everyone at The Mall Blackburn this year and their support has been invaluable.

“Launching and running the charity shop was great fun and we took over £4,500, which is fantastic!

“From fundraising to marketing support, nothing was too much for the team at The Mall and I would urge any local charity looking for a boost to apply to be the charity of the year for 2017.

“I would like to thank everyone at The Mall for all their support, we are really going to miss working with them.”

Loraine Jones, General Manager at The Mall Blackburn, said: “Our work within the community is vitally important to us here at The Mall and we love working with new, inspirational charities each year.

“There are so many deserving charities across Lancashire and it is always such a difficult decision to select just one.

“It has been wonderful to work with everyone at Lancashire Mind and I am delighted we have been able to help them in their quest to make mental health a local priority.

“We are looking for new and exciting ideas for fundraising activities and we are open to any suggestions!

“We’re really looking forward to making a difference to important causes and it is a great opportunity for any voluntary organisations to raise awareness and much needed funds whilst having fun along the way.”

Nightsafe, Blackburn Youth Zone, Inbetweenears and East Lancashire Hospice have all previously been supported through the ‘Charity of the Year’ initiative.

Local organisations can apply by visiting http://www.themall.co.uk/blackburn/whats-on/2017/charity-starts-at-the-mall-blackburn/  or by requesting a copy of the application form from Laura Diffey by emailing laura.diffey@themall.co.uk

The closing date is midnight on Monday 27th February and the partnership will start in March 2016.