SUPERMARKET giant Morrison’s Anniesland store has spearheaded a campaign to help raise half a million pounds for charity.

Morrisons stores from across Scotland and the North of England have raised more than £500,000 for the supermarket chain’s national charity partner Sue Ryder, which provides invaluable hospice care for those in their final days of life.

But people manager from Morrisons in Anniesland, Tricia Gallagher, wanted to create a lasting memory of their partnership and came up with the idea of doing a patchwork quilt.

“With six months remaining of our partnership with Sue Ryder, it seemed like a good time to reflect on the success of the past couple of years and we wanted to give Sue Ryder a gift to mark this,” Tricia said.

She continued: “We wanted to show where the money raised in the North has come from, so we asked each store to contribute a patch to show something unique which could identify their store and acknowledge their local area.

“We invited all stores from across Scotland and the North of England to contribute a patch.

“The response has been great and we’ve had some fantastic designs and a rainbow of colours. Our community champion Catherine McRoberts sewed them all together to make the ‘North Region’s Quilt’ to give to Sue Ryder as a gift.”

The quilt was recently presented to Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice in Leeds by Malcolm Mackie, Morrisons’ change and productivity coach for the North region, where it will be displayed as a lasting tribute to the successful partnership.

The £500,000 could be used to provide over 30,000 hours of incredible care to the charity’s patients and their families, or run one of Sue Ryder’s family support teams for five months, offering practical and emotional support to families going through a difficult time.

Catherine, who sewed each patch together to make the blanket, added: “The nurses and hospice staff really go above and beyond to support families through difficult times so it’s great to be able to fundraise for such a great cause and give them a special gift.”

For details visit sueryder.org/morrisons.