An independent community pharmacy chain has raised £16,570 for a cancer charity that offers a free breast screening to women outside the NHS screening age range, it announced last week (December 16). 

Gordons Chemists’ 54 Northern Irish branches did raffles, fancy dress and bake sales to raise funds for Action Cancer, which offers free breast screening services for women aged 40-49 and over 70. 

Gordons fundraised the money mostly throughout May and October this year, with the latter month as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

Read more: Uber offers free rides and meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to NHS and HSC staff 

It’s the seventeenth year of partnership between the pharmacy and cancer charity, and Action Cancer’s corporate fundraising executive Mark Jones thanked the “staff and customers of Gordons Chemists for their tremendous support”. 

“The service is free to women, yet each screening costs Action Cancer £120.  This year’s total of £16,570 will enable Action Cancer to provide 138 breast screenings to ladies right here in Northern Ireland,” he said. 

Gordons Chemists marketing manager Melanie Talbot said they were “delighted to raise another fantastic sum of money for Action Cancer, a partnership which has been going from strength to strength”. 

Read more: NI pharmacy donates Christmas gifts to hospice 

She said staff are “passionate about making sure that our customers know of the potentially life-saving services which Action Cancer can offer” and recognised “our customers have played a massive part by donating so generously”. 

“We’ve seen a significant number of our customers have a cancer detected because of a screening made available to them by Action Cancer, and because a member of our staff encouraged them to make an appointment.  

“Supporting Action Cancer is just one of the ways that we try to give something back to the communities we work in,” she added. 

Read more: Family-run NI pharmacy wins lifetime business award 

Gordons Chemists also has some branches in Scotland, and Action Cancer has been providing cancer awareness, prevention, detection and support services since 1973. 

It comes after C+D reported on more festive giving in the Northern Irish community as Bradley’s Pharmacy donated Christmas gifts to Foyle Hospice ahead of them being given out to patients at the hospice’s annual Christmas party.