Greene King raises more than £10m for Macmillan

23-Nov-2021 - Last updated on 23-Nov-2021 at 17:03 GMT

Fundraising for Macmillan: Greene King raises £10m in under 10 years

Pub operator and brewer Greene King has beaten its fundraising target to raise more than £10m in under a decade for Macmillan Cancer Support.

During the 2021 Macmillan fundraising campaign in September and October, £1.2m was raised, which brought the grand total raised since Greene King’s partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support began in 2012, to over £10m, despite the huge impact the pandemic has had on pubs’ trading opportunities.

Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie said: “The support of Greene King team members and generosity of customers has been truly inspiring and quite frankly awesome.

Unrelenting support and recognition

“The past 18 months have been so difficult for so many but still they have dug deep and shown unrelenting support and recognition for the work Macmillan does by going the extra mile and raising these vital funds to help people living with cancer.

“Despite the recent challenges, we like to put the fun into fundraising and we’re so proud of the results! Over £10m makes such a difference, enabling Macmillan to provide their brilliant support to many.”

The traditional Macmillan May events were postponed to the autumn when pubs were open and Greene King featured certain desserts across many of its pubs and restaurants to include a donation to Macmillan as well as many sites hosting fun days, festivals, raffles, and party nights with some team members enduring slime buckets and baked bean baths as well as run, walk and cycle events.

Support for people with cancer across the UK

Highlights included the launch of the first ‘Brave the Shave Live’ where one hundred pubs hosted a public head shaving event, the ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Bingo’ nights, ‘Tuk Tuk’ adventures across the country and Connie the Collection Tin mascot touring Greene King’s pubs.

Macmillan Cancer Support CEO Lynda Thomas said: “A huge thank you and congratulations to all of Greene King’s staff and customers on reaching this amazing milestone, we are so grateful for the support and the passion with which Greene King fundraise.

“At Macmillan we rely almost entirely on donations from the public and partners alike, without this generosity, we simply wouldn’t be able to fund the Macmillan nurses and professionals that support people with cancer across the UK when they need it the most.”