A Ponteland garden centre has helped raise £235,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK.
Dobbies Garden Centres raised the funds through a nationwide fundraising effort, with the Ponteland store contributing £2,782 towards the total.
Matthew Huckstep, general manager at Dobbies Ponteland, said: "We truly appreciate everything our colleagues and customers have done to support our partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK over the past year and would like to thank everyone for their involvement.
"From charity initiatives in-store and our dedicated Christmas shopping night to colleague fundraising challenges, we’ve come together to make a real difference."
The partnership launched in March last year in support of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Think Brain Health campaign, designed to highlight the benefits of gardening and garden living for brain health.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is a dementia research charity dedicated to ending dementia by speeding up progress towards a cure.
Dobbies customers and colleagues in the Ponteland store raised the funds through a range of initiatives, including an exclusive bulb pack developed in partnership with Taylors Bulbs, a Christmas Shopping Night, online event donations, and colleague fundraising challenges including marathons.
During World Alzheimer’s Month in September, Dobbies also introduced a national micro-donation scheme in partnership with the charity Pennies.
Since 2010, Pennies has worked with more than 200 brands to secure more than 300 million donations, raising £75 million for more than 1,110 charities.
The micro-donation scheme, which allows customers to add a 25p donation to their card payments at tills, has so-far raised over £69,000.
Dr Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: "Almost one million people are living with dementia in the UK, and this number is predicted to reach 1.4 million by 2040.
"Alzheimer’s Research UK exists to change that.
"It is more urgent than ever that we revolutionise the way dementia is treated, diagnosed, and prevented.
"We are incredibly proud to work with Dobbies.
"This partnership is helping us share the message of brain health while raising vital funds to help end the heartbreak of dementia."
Dobbies says it plans to continue its fundraising activities this year, including sponsorship of Edinburgh’s Walk for a Cure and donations from special plant purchases.
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