A year's worth of fundraising and awareness support from Sainsbury’s Chester has made a huge difference to the staff at Buzz Youth Group.

Thanks to generous donations from customers, the store has announced it has raised over £6,000.

Colleagues, including store manager Adrian Harle, met charity members at the Caldy Valley branch to celebrate the successful partnership.

For the last five years, Sainsbury’s gives customers nationwide the chance to vote for their favourite local charity, to be considered to receive a year’s worth of support from their nearby Sainsbury’s store.

When the charity was announced as Chester’s new local charity partner for 2013/2014, Melanie Hinde and Shelley Williams couldn’t wait to get started.

They said: “For a big retailer like Sainsbury’s to confirm a year’s partnership with us was just incredible news. I remember getting the phonecall and having a big grin on my face!

“We had our first meeting shortly after and we worked up some great ideas that we hoped would create great feedback with the store’s customers and colleagues.”

Throughout the last 12 months, colleagues at the store held several activities to raise funds and awareness of the charity’s cause.

These included a zip wire ride which helped raise just under £1,000.

Meanwhile, the store also took part in a darts match and a pool competition.

The store’s final fundraising activity as part of the partnership was a bag pack at Easter.

Despite the partnership coming to a close, it doesn’t mean that the charity will now be forgotten, as store manager Adrian Harle explained.

He said: “Our colleagues have really enjoyed working with Buzz Youth Group and it’s certainly touched the hearts of many of them that before didn’t necessary have a direct link to them.

“Thanks to the partnership, we’ll certainly now be looking into ways we can support them in the future.”

The partnership has helped the charity to secure funds for future events and outings and Melanie Hinde and Shelly Williams is grateful for the admirable efforts of customers and the Sainsbury’s Chester team.

Buzz Youth Group said: “Working with Sainsbury’s Chester over the last 12 months has made such a difference to our cause.

“We’ve raised a fantastic amount which we’re using towards adventure days out and we’re now looking forward to working with them on future opportunities.”