Leading convenience retailers SuperValu and Centra, part of Musgrave Northern Ireland, have partnered with fintech charity, Pennies, to offer customers a chance to donate to a local charity when paying by card. SuperValu and Centra customers can now add a 20p donation on their purchases in participating stores to support the retailers’ long-term charity partner Action Cancer and help keep its Big Bus on the road. The Big Bus, a mobile detection unit, delivers breast screening appointments to women outside of NHS screening age (40-49, and 70+), skin cancer detection appointments, and health checks to men and women.
Following a trial in six stores at the end of 2025, the Pennies micro-donation facility is now live in 70 SuperValu and Centra stores. It has welcomed over 900,000 donations and raised more than ÂŁ180,000 to date.
Trevor Magill, Musgrave NI’s Managing Director said: “We wanted to give customers who pay by card a simple way to support Action Cancer as part of their everyday shop. Working with Pennies has allowed us to introduce an easy, optional micro-donation at the till and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. While each donation may be small, together they’re already making a meaningful difference.”
Gareth Kirk, CEO of Action Cancer, added: “We have enjoyed an invaluable relationship with SuperValu and Centra since 2001, and their store teams, staff and customers have shown incredible support over the years. We’re delighted to be part of this new fundraising initiative which elevates the partnership to another level. These small donations will go a long way to help us deliver life-saving services directly in communities across Northern Ireland.”
Alison Hutchinson CBE, Pennies CEO, added: “We are really pleased to welcome Musgrave NI and its SuperValu and Centra brands to the Pennies’ micro-donation family, and know that customers will be generous and appreciate being asked to contribute a few pennies to such a fantastic cause. We look forward to the months and years ahead making great contributions in our communities.”
Pennies has now reached the huge landmark of surpassing 179 million micro-donations across all of its partners – a milestone made all the more significant as growth in giving has accelerated in the last three years and weathered the worst of the Covid pandemic.
The charity has estimated that micro-donations present an ambitious but achievable opportunity to inject an annual ÂŁ1bn into the UK charity sector – if every UK card holder gave just 35p a week.
Musgrave Northern Ireland has supported Action Cancer since 2001 and has raised ÂŁ4.25 million for the charity to date.