REGULARS and staff at Greene King pubs across Dorset have raised £103,151 for Macmillan Cancer Support in just seven years.

The cash is part of an amazing £7million the pub company and brewer has raised since choosing Macmillan as its charity partner in January 2012.

It has helped fund thousands of hours of Macmillan professional care, supporting people living with cancer across the UK, helping people living with cancer and their families receive essential physical, emotional and financial support.

Nick Mackenzie, chief executive at Greene King, said: “Raising £7million for Macmillan is an incredible milestone for us. A big thank you to our team members who always pull out the stops to raise money. I’ve seen first-hand some of the staggering efforts they go to, including cycling more than 400 miles from our brewery in Bury St Edmunds to our brewery in Scotland. And thanks to our customers too, who always put their hands in their pockets to support Macmillan.

“We’ve ramped up our support over the last 12 months, including rolling out Pennies – the digital collection box – in all of our pubs which has already raised more than £670,000. As we enter our eighth year supporting Macmillan, we’re looking at new ways we can help those living with cancer.”

Greene King originally only set out to raise £1million for Macmillan in three years but quickly smashed that target, raising £2million in the last year alone.

Greene King team members have collected funds in a variety of ways including gruelling physical challenges such as The Ultimate Brewery Bike Tour and Kilimanjaro treks to community-based events like family fun days and music festivals.

‘Macmillan May’, Greene King’s intensive month of fundraising, generated £711,499 in 2019.

Rachel Gascoigne, Senior Partnership Manager at Macmillan said: “This money goes directly to supporting people living with cancer and we are very grateful to the Greene King customers and staff across Dorset for their amazing support and generosity.

“Macmillan’s ambition is to be right there for everybody with cancer from the moment they are diagnosed. We are funded almost entirely by donations.

“Without the continued generosity of the public and partners like Greene King, we simply wouldn’t be able to provide vital support to those people who desperately need it.”