A nice surprise in store for Madeira

Tuesday 16th March 2010, 2:58PM GMT.

Mike Wavell, chairman of Side by Side; Mark Cox, operations manager at Checkers; Neil Ginnis, Side by Side treasurer; and staff at Checkers in Rue des Prés with the total amount raised by Sandpiper for the Madeira appeal Picture: JON GUEGAN (00913194)

CUSTOMERS and staff at one of the Channel Islands’ biggest retailers have dug deep and raised nearly £19,000 for the Jersey Side by Side appeal for Madeira.

Around £70,000 has been raised by the appeal so far after flash floods devastated the Portuguese island almost a month ago, killing 42 people and leaving around 600 homeless.

A massive £18,980 of the appeal total has been raised by Sandpiper CI, the company that owns the M&S franchise in Jersey, along with Safeway and Checkers, in just one week.

The total, which was raised in both Jersey and Guernsey stores, includes £1,000 from Sandpiper’s management, while the rest came from fundraising events among staff and customer collections.

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