The kindness of a supermarket employee has been recognised after she reached a fundraising milestone.
Alex Pearson, Community Champion at Leamington Morrisons, has been named as the latest winner of Wright Hassall’s 175 Acts of Kindness campaign after raising more than £10,000 for various charities across Warwickshire and beyond in the past year.
Employees from Wright Hassall select a monthly winner to receive £175 to donate to a charity of their choice. Alex’s winnings will be donated to multiple charities as part of Leamington Morrisons’ store partnerships.
She was nominated by a previous winner, Helen Smith, who runs children and youth support charity Evelyn’s Gift in memory of her daughter, and the pair are now set to team up for a 15-mile fundraising walk to support Helen’s charity.
Alex, who is now the Regional Champion for 28 Morrisons stores, said: “To have been nominated by another winner was extremely heart-warming. It shows the effect that the Acts of Kindness campaign is having to promote all the hard work that people put into charities, and the positive effect this has had on the community.”
Alex has worked for Morrisons for more than 15 years at two sites in Warwickshire including Leamington and Stratford, and took over as the Leamington store’s Community Champion to lead its fundraising activities in March 2020.
After seeing the effects of the pandemic, she wanted to prioritise giving back to people in the local area to make a difference in the community.
She, along with her dogs Archie and Chester, has led multiple fundraising walks on behalf of Leamington Morrisons to support a range of causes including Young Lives vs Cancer and Safeline – a sexual abuse charity.
Alex also generated hundreds of donations of clothing, toys and equipment for refugee charity Carriers of Hope and British Red Cross to be sent to displaced Afghan families.
She added: “I’ve been extremely fortunate to have the chance to work with a range of incredible charities over the last year and a half, but what is really inspiring is the way the community has really got behind these initiatives.
“I was given the chance to make a difference at the start of the pandemic and that has only been possible thanks to the reaction of people in the Leamington area.
The scheme was launched to celebrate Wright Hassall’s 175th anniversary and asks the public to nominate members of the community who have gone above and beyond to support others.
Robert Lee, Corporate Partner at Wright Hassall, said: “The work that Alex has done since the start of the pandemic has made a real difference to the lives of people in the community and beyond.
“She covers so many charities and initiatives that include the local area but also span a lot of national causes, and the fact that she was nominated by another winner says it all about the impact she has had locally.
“She is a credit to herself and Morrisons and I’d like to thank her for all the work that she has done, and remind volunteers across the region that their effort is always appreciated and deserves to be celebrated.”
Caption: Alex Pearson, Community Champion at Leamington Morrisons with Robert Lee, Corporate Partner at Wright Hassall