Spar North of England retailer, wholesaler, and distributor James Hall & Co. Ltd has celebrated a major charity milestone with £1 million raised for Marie Curie.
The million-pound mark has kicked 2026 off in style and comes as the national charity partnership between Spar and Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end of life care charity, enters a 10th year.
Marie Curie cares for people with any illness they are likely to die from including Alzheimer’s (and other forms of dementia), heart, liver, kidney and lung disease, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, and advanced cancer.
By raising £1million, the funding raised by James Hall & Co. Ltd has meant 43,478 hours of care have been delivered by Marie Curie hospice and nursing teams. A total of 1,683 people have been supported by household helpers, and 19,444 information and support enquiries have been handled online or over the phone.
As part of marking the £1 million milestone, Marie Curie Corporate Partnership Managers Lily Whitlam and Victoria Simkins attended the latest Spar North of England Guild meeting to personally thank independent Spar retailers and James Hall’s G&E Murgatroyd company stores division for their fundraising efforts.
Key initiatives that have driven fundraising to seven figures include the company’s 1p charity sandwich sale pledge on every Spar brand sandwich sold in a SparR store in the North of England.
Supporting that have been a range of other initiatives including a Yorkshire Three Peaks trek in 2024 which saw 135 participants take on the challenge and raise £40,000 for the charity, and a special Clayton Park Bakery cake that was produced in 2023 to mark Marie Curie’s 75th anniversary.
The partnership has also been highlighted through customer initiatives which have included 10-year-old Holly Brocklebank-Watts win a Spar truck design competition, and 12-year-old Esme Jones designing an Egg Mayonnaise Spar sandwich pack.
Peter Dodding, sales director at James Hall & Co. Ltd and chairman of the Spar Northern Guild of Retailers, said: “Raising £1 million is an incredible achievement. It is testament to years of committed fundraising shown by Spar independent retailers and our G&E Murgatroyd company store teams, supported by the continuous generosity of our valued Spar customers.
“Through mass participation events, product donations, volunteering hours, and inventive ways of showcasing the partnership, we take great pride in the partnership. Celebrating this milestone is hugely important for the positive impact it has delivered in communities across the North of England.”
Richard Lee, director of fundraising at Marie Curie, said: “We’re extremely grateful to James Hall & Co. Ltd’s Spar customers and colleagues in the North of England for raising this tremendous amount.
“Their support is helping Marie Curie to provide a better end of life for people, whatever the illness, wherever they are, and support for their families and loved ones. Since 2017, James Hall & Co. Ltd’s commitment to supporting our mission to close the gap in end-of-life care has been remarkable. We’re excited to see what the future holds for this truly impactful partnership.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent Spar retailers and company-owned Spar stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
