Welcome to our new friends at Next Retail

This year, NEXT Retail employees from across Ireland and the UK are highlighting their support for Friends of the Cancer Centre by taking part in fundraising events, raising money and awareness of our work as well as engaging their colleagues in health promotion activities.

NEXT chose to support Friends of the Cancer Centre in memory of their dear friend and colleague, Cathy Torley. Cathy worked for the company for over 20 years, most recently as Area Manager for Mid-Ireland. Cathy was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and during her time in hospital, her family appreciated the support provided by Friends of the Cancer Centre When Cathy passed away in February 2019, her colleagues, friends and family decided to give their support to the charity in Cathy’s memory.

Talking about their dear friend and colleague, Sarah Williams (pictured above, centre) said:

“Cathy lost her battle with cancer on Monday 25th February 2019, just 11 short weeks after celebrating at our Head Office Christmas Party. Walking through the doors of the Cancer Centre at any hospital would be daunting, but at Belfast City Hospital where Cathy received her treatment and spent her last few weeks, Friends of the Cancer Centre are there to make sure both patients and families get the best care possible. ”

In September a team of over 100 employees from across Ireland and the UK took part in our Slieve Donard Challenge, walking in memory of Cathy. Blaine Devine, Area Manager at Next said:

“Everyone was so fond of Cathy and we miss our friend daily. We were really pleased to get a chance to do something positive together in Cathy’s memory and our hope is that our efforts will make a real difference to lots of other families affected by cancer.”

As well as raising money to support our work, NEXT stores in Ireland are making our breast check hangers and talking balls cancer awareness tools available to their employees, helping to raise awareness of the importance of self-checks amongst their team.

If you and your colleagues would like to get involved, we would love to hear from you. Contact Ana Wilkinson, corporate fundraising manager on (028) 9069 9393 or email [email protected]