27 January 2020

Whether you're fundraising for the The Big Bristol Abseil or your own event, our 'How to' fundraising guides will help you smash your target and raise even more vital funds for Bristol's hospitals.

In this guide, Community & Events Fundraising Officer Karlie Evans talks you through how to organise a bag pack at your local supermarket.

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Supermarket bag packs are a great way to raise funds - in just a few hours you can raise a lot just from people's spare change!

Simply choose a supermarket you want to approach and send them a letter of authority from Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity (previously Above & Beyond). You can request the letter from your charity fundraising representative. 

Keep track of who you send your letters out to and when so that you know when it’s an appropriate time to follow up with a phone call.

To carry out the bag pack, you’ll need buckets with seals, t-shirts and any extra help you can get! The more people you have, the more money you will raise.

Request any materials you might need by simply getting in touch or popping into our Fundraising Hub in the Bristol Royal Infirmary. 

On the day of your bag pack, arrive at the arranged time and you’ll likely be asked to sign in. Then you’ll be placed on the end of a till with your bucket. Remember to be friendly, ask everyone if they’d like any help packing and tell them all about what you’re doing and why.

You can rotate around the tills if it’s quiet or stay put if you have a good stream of customers.

Just remember it now costs money for a bag so a lot of people will bring their own, and some people may not want any help. It’s worth still chatting to them though as they may give you any loose change!

Andrea, who took part in the challenge in 2017 and again in 2019, raised almost £400 towards her 2019 fundraising total of more than £3,000 by packing bags at her local supermarket. She teamed up with two other participants to cover more tills and even did a static cycle in the supermarket entrance.

 She said…

A supermarket bag pack is a really low effort way to give your fundraising a boost. If you're doing a challenge you can team up with some of the other participants and cover more tills and then split the money raised between you. All you need is a bucket and few hours!

We're ready to help so get in touch on [email protected] to start organising your bag pack today!