Welsh Conservative Regional AM Dr Altaf Hussain has joined with members of the public and employees from Marks & Spencer stores around Swansea on Friday, for a day of voluntary action at Ty Olwen Hospice, as part of the retailer’s ‘Spark Something Good’ campaign.
The campaign, running between the 24th of February and St. David’s Day, has seen 125 M&S employees joining local people to help 24 projects across Swansea in 7 days. Swansea was selected by the retailer as the first city in Wales to host a ‘Spark Something Good’ event. In all, the campaign will see 24 projects take place across 24 cities in the UK and Ireland over the course of 24 months.
Other local organisations to benefit include Swansea Community Farm, Llys Nini Animal Centre, The Alzheimer’s Society and Swansea Environment Centre.
The challenge was to renovate the lounge at Ty Olwen with new furniture and paint in the space of a day, so that the work would be finished in time for Friday night’s Rugby match. Doctors and nurses from Ty Olwen along with M&S Staff and community volunteers got down to work – Altaf got involved with a spanner and discovered that his training as an orthopaedic surgeon would stand him in good stead for assembling a flat-pack bookcase.
Altaf said: “The campaign from M&S aims to unite people behind a common goal and show just what can be achieved when there is the right ‘spark’ to ignite local action. Ty Olwen is a hugely important asset for health services in Swansea and it’s great to see Marks & Spencer - which has been part of Swansea’s fabric for many years - bringing people together to give something back. I am delighted that M&S chose Swansea to launch the campaign in Wales – after all, it has been named the ‘friendliest city in the UK’”.
Aled Bonnell, Store Manager at M&S Swansea, said: “We’re really excited to be launching this initiative in Wales for the first time, having seen how successful it was in London, Manchester and Dublin. Swansea residents were recently named as the best in the UK for acts of neighbourly and community kindness, and what better place to call on support for a project like Spark Something Good”.
(Written for South Wales Evening Post and 'The Wave').