Colruyt has announced that Spar stores in Belgium will trial a crowdfunding campaign for AED (Automated external defibrillator) devices to combat cardiac arrest.
In 2017, the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre, reported that approximately 9,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest yearly in Belgium, with between 17% and 30% of these occurring in public places.
Four Spar stores will trial the crowdfunding campaign, each investing in an AED device. The independent store owners will pay for half of the cost to install an AED device and will ask customers to make donations to pay for the other half.
Spar Aalter, Spar Denderwindeke, Spar Gembloux and Spar Wijgmaal are trialling the collection campaign from Thursday 5 March until Wednesday 1 April.
Once the campaign has been trialled at these stores, Spar will decide whether to roll out the campaign in other Spar stores in Belgium.
Crowdfunding
Customers will be able to contribute to the purchase of the AED device in two ways, they can round up their till receipt at the checkout or they can choose to donate between €1 and €5. Any additional proceeds will be donated to the local Red Cross.
“The inspiration for this campaign came from Spar Ireland, where a similar initiative was a great success,” says Guido Soret, sales director of Spar Colruyt Group Belgium.
"We are convinced that we can encourage our customers to join us in pulling together for this initiative, which will benefit the whole neighbourhood. By financing half of the purchase price of the AED device themselves, independent storekeepers are giving something back to their customers," he added.
The AED devices will be positioned on the outside of each store, making them accessible to all local residents.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Elizabeth Schroeder. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
