Plastic bag levy will benefit charities
Cut-price retailer Poundland is to donate £800,000 to chosen charities from plastic bag sales across its stores in Scotland, England and Wales.
Legislation across the UK requires retailers to charge 5p per plastic bag given to customers and Poundland will be donating the money from the sales of its bags to its two existing charity partners: Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research Wales.
A one off donation will also be made to the UCL Dementia Research charity.
Monies raised from Poundland stores in Scotland and England will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support as part of the retailer’s national partnership with the leading cancer charity. All the money raised will fund vital Macmillan services that help ensure that no one has to face cancer alone.
Since launching its partnership with Macmillan in 2009, Poundland has raised over £1.5 million for the charity and with the additional money from the sale of plastic carrier bags brings this total to over £2m.
Nicola Keith, head of partnership management at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “We would like to thank Poundland for this donation which will help Macmillan to deliver essential support to the growing number of people living with cancer in the UK.
Nearly £800,000 will go a long way in providing vital work across the UK to the charities
“Reaching a fundraising total of over £2m is a tremendous milestone that all colleagues and customers should be very proud of, as all of the money will help Macmillan ensure that no one has to face cancer alone.
"Support like Poundland’s is more important than ever as we know that by 2020, almost half of the population will get cancer at some point in their lives.”
Jim McCarthy, Poundland chief executive, said: “I am delighted and extremely proud to make today’s announcement in support of these three incredible charities.
"Cancer is something that affects most of us at some point in our life. Nearly £800,000 will go a long way in providing vital work across the UK to the charities and reaching over £2m for our national charity partner Macmillan is amazing and testament to the continuous support from our colleagues and customers support."
The retailer said it was committed to reducing the number of bags in landfill and ensures all plastic bags sold in stores are made from recyclable material.
