Nisa Retail’s ‘Making a Difference Locally’ charity programme honoured in Scotland

Nisa Retail’s remarkable ‘Making a Difference Locally’ (MADL) charity programme was named SLR Symbol Group Community Initiative of the Year at last night’s Scottish Local Retailer of the Year Awards 2021.

Organised by Scottish Local Retailer, Scotland’s leading magazine for community stores, the Awards saw dozens of retailers and symbol groups from across the country recognised and rewarded for their heroic efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, helping keep communities stocked with daily essentials and proving a focal point for the many customers who came to rely on them more than ever before.

Operated by the Nisa symbol group, MADL was first created in 2008 and is a truly innovative charity initiative that generates money seven days a week for independent retailers to share as they see fit with local charities and good causes. A small percentage of the revenues from own brand products sold in Nisa stores is allocated to the MADL initiative and is then re-distributed to support community projects.

Nisa supplies well over 400 stores in Scotland and many of these actively take part in MADL. To date, more than £13m has been distributed to good causes throughout the UK through MADL with more than 15,500 individual donations made by Nisa retailers. In 2020 alone, more than £1.25m was generated and shared, a 44% increase on the previous year.

SLR Sales & Marketing Director Helen Lyons commented: “Making A Difference Locally has always been, and remains, a unique fundraising model and to have donated more than £13m to good causes is simply phenomenal."

“The way that the funds are raised - through sales of own brand product - means that retailers are not having to rely on the goodwill of their customers to donate money; every time they sell an own band product, retailers add to their MADL pot. Best of all, Scotland’s local retailers have complete freedom over which charity or good cause they donate the money too."

“More often than not, the money is donated to smaller, less well known - but no less deserving - good causes. This makes it a truly local, truly community focused model. The fact that donations increase by 44% in 2020 tells us a lot about how last year has been - and it also demonstrates that more good causes than ever in Scotland have received funds at a time when they needed them more than ever.”