Morrisons’ partnership with Save the Children has raised £5m since it launched in 2011, making the supermarket the largest funder of the charity’s UK work.

Morrisons has been raising money for Save the Children’s Families and Schools Together (FAST) programme since 2011 and has now extended the partnership up to January 2014.

In 2013 it will also support the Eat, Sleep, Learn, Play programme for families with young children that are struggling to afford the basics. It is the second time the partnership has been extended; the first time was in October 2011.

It is aiming to raise £2m for the Eat, Sleep, Learn, Play programme and reach more than 4,000 families with crisis grants.

Rona Blackwood, UK programme strategy manager at Save the Children, said: “Morrisons’ support has already enabled Save the Children to make a long-term impact on the lives of thousands of disadvantaged children. This renewed commitment will now enable us to transform the scale of our Eat, Sleep, Learn, Play programme, which will ultimately give some of the UK’s most disadvantaged children a better start in life.”

Some of the ways that staff raised money was through bake sales, fitness challenges, bucket collections and product donations. Staff also took part in Save the Children’s first Christmas Jumper Day in December 2012 and raised more than £100,000.

Martyn Jones, group corporate services director at Morrisons, said: “Seeing the difference we’ve made by working together has inspired our colleagues and customers to help even more. That’s why we have extended our partnership – so that we can help make an even bigger difference.”

Morrison’s first awarded its charity of the year partnership to Save the Children in 2011, with an initial target of raising £1m for the Families and Schools Together programme. Its previous partnership with Cancer Research UK raised £2.2m in one year.  

Click here to read our 2012 Corporate Partnerships Survey.

Want access to all civilsociety.co.uk content? Subscribers gain access to all expert advice, analysis, surveys, special reports and the full archive of content from as little as £43.20 per year. Find out more...