Marks & Spencer skydives to support the fight against Breast Cancer

October 16, 2012, Dubai: On weekend, Marks & Spencer (M&S), UK’s largest retailer kicked off their internal fund raising campaign ‘Leap of Hope’ in association with Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), a charitable and volunteer based foundation. The campaign is to support the fight against breast cancer and mark solidarity to one of the concerns amongst women of all ages.

The senior M&S officials Sally Wakly and Julie Howett took an exhilarating skydive from 10,000 feet at over 120 miles per hour. Encouraged and supported by the colleagues, the duo went for this big leap of hope and raised an amount of AED 30,000. The unique fundraising skydiving took place at Skydive Dubai 1, The Palm Jumeirah.

Ms. Zainab Al Mahry, Marketing Manager at Marks & Spencer Al-Futtaim said, “We feel a sense of responsibility to support the good cause and is in line with M&S’ Breast Cancer Awareness programmes. The money raised at this event by M&S employees will make a considerable difference to the cause. I would like to thank Sally and Julie for coming forward to push their limits to support the campaign.”

M&S’s funding drive will help FOCP build a future free from the fear of Breast Cancer and promote wellness. M&S wants to stand beside patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and deliver the message that life is all about hope and one should have faith in oneself.
Ms. Sally Wakley, Store Development Manager at M&S, said, “It feels great to be a part of this huge campaign. I took the challenge as an opportunity to support this great cause. It was fun however nothing will surpass the sense of fulfillment which it brought in me and more so in all of us.”

“I decided to take on the exciting skydiving event as the perfect challenge for raising money for the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. It was an exhilarating experience and recommend everyone to try it once in their life to support another life.” commented Ms. Julie Howett, Head of Merchandising & Buying at M&S.

In support of the main cause, a host of awareness and promotional activities are running at all M&S stores. Store staff supported the cause in a fashionable way by wearing pink on October 11, 2012. The stores are decorated with pink balloons.

About Marks & Spencer Al-Futtaim
A member of the Al-Futtaim Group of companies since 1998, the Marks & Spencer Al-Futtaim franchise partnership boasts 18 stores located in the United Arab Emirate, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. The stores offer an extensive range of stylish, high quality clothing products for the whole family, across womenswear and lingerie, menswear and kidswear. Marks & Spencer also offers beauty and home products, as well as outstanding quality food.

M&S Store is present in Dubai Festival City, Mall of the Emirates Dubai, Deira City Centre Dubai, The Dubai Mall, Wafi City Mall Dubai, Sahara Centre Sharjah, Abu Dhabi Marina Mall, Fetouh Al Khair Mall Abu Dhabi, Dalma Mall Abu Dhabi, Bawadi Mall Al Ain, Seef Mall Bahrain, Landmark Mall Doha, Villaggio Mall Doha, Marina Plaza Kuwait, 360° MALL Kuwait, Muscat City Centre Oman. In addition to this impressive list, Dubai Festival City, one of the M&S’s largest international store features the new-look format with exciting fashion and food displays to make the store more inviting, inspiring and easier to shop.

For more information, please visit http://www.MarksandSpencerME.com

About Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer is one of the UK’s leading retailers. M&S sells high quality, great value clothing and home products as well as outstanding quality food. 20 million customers visit its stores each week and has 81,000 employees across the UK and 44 territories globally.
Marks & Spencer was founded over 128 years ago and currently has over 730 UK stores and over 390 international stores across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.