PizzaExpress has this week announced that it has raised over £70,000 for its charity partner Macmillan, thanks to the huge fundraising efforts of its staff members during their ‘Go Mad, Go Green’ charity week at the end of June.
This is the second charity week held to support the company’s partnership with Macmillan and saw the company more than double the amount raised in 2016, thanks to the incredible dedication of team members at PizzaExpress restaurants up and down the country. The amount raised is almost enough to pay for an entire information resource area in a Macmillan cancer information and support centre, where patients, families and carers can find and receive information.
All PizzaExpress restaurants in the country were involved in the charity week through team activities such as fun runs, marathons, bike rides and much more as well as individual efforts. PizzaExpress restaurants turned green with balloons, banners and staff all donning the colour for the occasion and also encouraged their customers to get involved through donations.
During the week, team members covered the equivalent of the length of the country twice* – over,1300 miles in total – through a variety of challenges including cycling on static bikes in restaurants.
Fundraising events are continuing to take place, with more money due to arrive from further cycling and hiking challenges from restaurants around the country.
Rachel Cross Engagement and Communications Manager at PizzaExpress says, “We are so excited to have raised such a large amount through our fundraising efforts. From individual challenges, through to team activities and customer engagement, we’ve had the most successful event yet. This is totally due to the incredible passion our restaurant teams. It was great to be able to double our donation to Macmillan this year and to help support the growing number of people affected by cancer in the UK.”
Emily Shelford, Head of Partnership Management at Macmillan Cancer Support says, “This week packed full of activity was a brilliant effort from PizzaExpress staff across the country and a phenomenal amount was raised – their enthusiasm is inspiring! One in two people are likely to get cancer in their lifetimes and its down to dedication like this that we’re able to continue supporting people when they need it most. We believe that life with cancer is still a life and with the continued support from partners like PizzaExpress, we can help people live it.”
In addition to the fundraising activities taking place during the ‘Go Mad, Go Green’ week, PizzaExpress is continuing to donate a discretionary 25p from every Padana pizza sold to the charity. The ‘Padana’ pizza was chosen as it is a favourite with customers, topped with goat’s cheese, mozzarella, tomato, caramelised onions, spinach, red onions and garlic oil. The donation applies to all versions of the pizza, including on a classic or Romana base or even as a Leggera version.