Santander employees from across London and the East of England came head to head recently as they competed in a “Store Wars” fundraising challenge for the bank’s charity partners, Barnardo’s and Age UK.

Staff from Santander’s branches in Central London competed against 16 other teams for the title, with branches spread across the area, from Amersham to Southend-on-Sea.

The High Holborn, Brent Cross, Cricklewood and Brixton branches took over Barnardo’s shops across the capital for a day, with each of the 20 teams vying to see who could increase sales by the most in what has been dubbed the “Store Wars” fundraising challenge to raise as much money as possible for each charity.

The teams became sales assistants for the day and sold as many items as possible, including clothing, homeware, books, DVD’s and accessories, all of which had been kindly donated by members of the public in the local area. The teams have also organised fundraising activities such as golf days, sponsored walks and zip line challenges to raise extra money for the two charity partners.

Jan Rooban, Branch Director at Santander’s High Holborn branch, said: “It was a great day and it was a lot of fun coming up against teams from across the South East. It was a really enjoyable way of raising money for our charity partners, and we were thrilled to raise a total of £20,177.”

Forbes Mutch, Head of Corporate Fundraising at Barnardo’s, said: “Store Wars has proven again that it is a fantastic fundraising initiative that enables teams to put their creativeness to the test, whilst raising money for some of the most vulnerable children, young people and families in the UK.”

Hannorah Lee, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Age UK, said: “We’d like to thank the teams from across Britain that took part in this year’s Store Wars challenge. As well as a fun and rewarding challenge, the funds will allow us to offer vital support and companionship to older people who might otherwise have no one to turn to.”

Store Wars, which took place throughout September, has raised more than £165,000 for Barnardo’s and Age UK.

Over the course of 2017, Santander is supporting a host of fundraising activities for the two charities, including the Store Wars initiative, a coast to coast cycle challenge, and an International Challenge, which will see employees travelling abroad to help build a school in Nepal.

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Notes to Editors:

Media Contact
Stephanie Harris at Santander         Email: stephanie.harris@santander.co.uk      Tel: 020 7756 4221

The press office operates from 8.00am to 6.00pm. Outside of these hours please call 0800 5877708.

Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 30 June 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 826 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 65 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.

Age UK
Age UK is a national charity that works with its national partners, Age Scotland, Age Cymru and Age NI and its local Age UK partners across England. It also works globally to support older people, especially in developing countries, through its subsidiary charity Age International.

Age UK believes that everyone should have the opportunity to make the most of later life, whatever their circumstances. It provides free information, advice and support to over six million people and carries out research and campaigns on the issues that matter most to older people. Its work focuses on ensuring older people have enough money; have good wellbeing; have access to the health and care support they need; feel safe and secure at home; and are able to make a full contribution to our society and are valued for it.

Age UK is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England (registered charity number 1128267 and company number 6825798). Age Concern England and Help the Aged (both registered charities), and their trading and other associated companies merged on the 1st April 2009. Charitable services are offered through Age UK and commercial products are offered by the Charity’s trading companies, which donate their net profits to Age UK (the Charity).


Barnardo’s

Barnardo’s has helped transform the lives of millions of disadvantaged children in the UK, and continues to help families to build a better future. In 2016/17 more than 272,000 children, young people, parents and carers were supported by Barnardo’s through more than 1,000 services across the UK, such as young carers, care leavers, foster carers and adoptive parents, training and skills or parenting classes.

Visit www.barnardos.org.uk  to find out more. Registered charity No. 216250 and SC037605