Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, spent Friday afternoon (15th December) working hard in one of his constituent's award-winning convenience store. Raaj Chandarana invited his local MP to be part of his annual community Christmas party at the High Wycombe store, Tara's News, after meeting him at the ACS Heart of the Community event in October.
Mr Baker spent just over two hours speaking to customers and passers-by from the local community in and around the store and even got a glimpse of life from behind the counter. “Once again Tara's News has shown that our convenience stores are crucial hubs in our local communities” said Mr Baker.
Raaj's community Christmas event raised funds for his store's local primary school, Disraeli School and Children's Centre, to help them buy iPads for the school’s new students with learning difficulties. On the day, Raaj managed to raise enough money to buy five iPads which he says will help greatly with the childrens’ education.
At the end of the event, Raaj said: “If all retailers did something once a year to help their local community, we could make the world a much better place”.
During the Christmas event, all 500 pupils from the school sung Christmas carols in the car park for their parents and shoppers. Six big name suppliers, including Coca-cola, Warburtons, Mondelez and KP, all got involved in the day, with some donating money and others attending the event and playing games with the children. Raaj also had a DJ, magician and face painting amongst other entertainment at the event.
ACS Chief Executive, James Lowman, who also attended the event, said: “The day represents the importance for retailers to build a relationship with their local MP, especially when running community events. It really helps reinforce the integral role that convenience stores play in the local area”.
ACS encourages all members to build a relationship with their local MP, for help doing this, please contact Sophie Mew on 01252 533 011 or e-mail [email protected]
