Carrier bag charge donation

21 Jan 2016 01:41 PM

Hospice named as another beneficiary of carrier bag charge.

Scotland’s Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has welcomed a £16,000 donation to Marie Curie, as the country starts to reap the benefits from the carrier bag charge introduced in October 2014.

The money, raised by in the first full year of the charge from 60 of the B&M Home stores across Scotland, will go towards local Marie Curie services which support people living with a terminal illness and their families.

The Cabinet Secretary visited Edinburgh’s Marie Curie Hospice today where he met B&M store manager Alistair Stewart and Marie Curie hospice manager Hilary Ford, who gave him a tour of the centre and showed him some of the areas that would benefit from the donation.

Mr Lochhead said:

“This is a really wonderful donation from B&M Stores to a very worthy cause. It was both humbling and inspiring to visit the hospice today and meet some of the patients and families who will benefit from this generous donation.

“We want the charge to cut single-use carrier bag usage in Scotland to reduce litter and help the environment, but it is wonderful to see how this has evolved and now organisations such as Marie Curie are also benefitting. Congratulations to B&M on this kind gift, which I’m sure will be put to good use by Marie Curie.”

B&M Stores local manager Alistair Stewart said:

“We’re delighted to be able to make this donation to such a worthwhile cause and to see personally the great work carried out at the hospice is very humbling. We look forward to our continued relationship with the Marie Curie team and our continued support into the future.”

Hospice manager Hilary Ford said:

“We’d like to say a big thank you to the B&M Stores staff for their support. We’re delighted that B&M Stores and its Scottish staff chose Marie Curie as their nominated charity – all the money raised will make a difference to people living with a terminal illness and their families.”

B&M Stores chose to support Marie Curie as one of their beneficiary charities from the bag charge as many staff have a personal connection to the charity.

Notes To Editors

Scotland witnessed a reduction of 650 million bags during the first year of the carrier bag charge, with around £7 million being donated to good causes as a result.

Retailers and organisations not yet signed up to the Carrier Bag Commitment can do so by visiting www.carrierbagcommitment.org.uk, with full details available at www.carrierbagchargescotland.org.uk

Shoppers can access further information about the single-use carrier bag charge by visiting www.greenerscotland.org/cleanerscotland/carrier-bags