BBC Radio Lancashire’s Albia Begum is teaming up with her mum to volunteer at a Mother’s Day charity bag pack at Marks & Spencer Burnley next week.
Albia has been an ambassador for the hospice for the past 12 months and as part of her volunteer role, Albia raises awareness of the various services which Pendleside offers free-of-charge to anyone from the local community who needs them.
Together with her mum, Rahima, Albia will be packing customers’ shopping at Marks & Spencer, based on St James’ Street in Burnley, on Thursday 19th March from 2pm until 4pm.
Albia said: “My mum loves M&S – it’s her favourite shop! She gets a lot from there and she loves their ethos of supporting a charity her daughter is involved with. We’re both so grateful to have Pendleside supporting our local community, and who knows, either of us could be in need of its services one day.
“I absolutely adore my mum – she’s my angel and is fully supportive of my work for the hospice, so she’s looking forward to volunteering alongside me. I don’t have any sisters but she’s like a sister to me. The more I can get her involved in my charity work, the better. I’m very passionate about promoting integration across our community.”
The Mother’s Day themed bag pack runs from Wednesday 18th March to Saturday 21st March and all funds raised are split between Pendleside and M&S Burnley’s Charity of the Year, British Heart Foundation.
Pendleside Hospice has had the charity bag packing partnership in place with the Burnley branch of M&S since 2006, with regular fundraising events raising almost £220,000 for the hospice during this time.
Heather Conn, Fundraising Assistant at Pendleside, manages the partnership with M&S. She said: “We’re hoping that people calling into M&S for their Mother’s Day presents will see our team of bag packers and donate what they can towards two very worthy causes. We’re very grateful to have such a strong partnership with M&S which has raised such an incredible amount over the past 14 years.
“It’s going to be so nice to have Albia and her mum volunteering with us and sharing their lovely mother-daughter bond with shoppers.”
Albia has been a Pendleside ambassador since early 2019, signing up after hosting an outside broadcast with John ‘Gilly’ Gillmore on BBC Radio Lancashire as part of the hospice’s 30th anniversary celebrations in 2018.
She’s currently working on special projects at the station, including producing a documentary about Burnley FC in the Community which aired on New Year’s Day.
Burnley – More than a Football Club documented the relationship between the club and the local community, and how that work is making an impact on the lives of people across the world.