Held on 5 March, the annual event welcomed more than 1,000 guests from around 150 companies to the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, London, for an evening of networking and fundraising.
The funds were raised through ticket sales and a silent auction on the night, and will be bought towards a range of services that the charity provides.
GroceryAid CEO Kieran Hemsworth described the money raised as a “brilliant contribution” that will enable the charity to help “as many grocery workers as possible in their time of need”.
“At GroceryAid we support grocery colleagues and their families through difficult times by providing financial, emotional and practical support, helping them get back on their feet with dignity,” said Hemsworth.
“We know it’s a challenging time for grocery workers, and we are experiencing an unprecedented level of demand for our services. Last year we had 78,000 incidents of support, which was a 93% growth on the previous year, mainly due to financial pressures driven by cost of living challenges.”
GroceryAid president and Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh added: “GroceryAid plays a vital role for our colleagues in the industry, but the truth is we are only just scratching the surface. There are 2.6 million people who work in grocery in the UK, and 10% are very likely to need GroceryAid services at some point in the year. Only 2% are aware of GroceryAid and the welfare offer so there is still much more to do.
“We have strong foundations to build on, and have been able to spend £6.5 million on welfare in the last year, helping our industry colleagues as they go through difficult times.
“This is all possible in part because of the success of events such as the GroceryAid Ball, where as an industry we raised £717, 267 to support the growing needs of our colleagues.”
