During November we gave customers an easy way to help support both local suppliers and the local community, by doing doing one simple thing; buying local products. For every local product bought during November we put 2p into a pot to be divided up between local foodbanks. Over a thousand local products were bought in November, putting £2,218 into the pot, which we then topped up to £2,400 to be split between, The Trussel trust's Mid Norfolk Foodbank in Dereham, the North Norfolk Foodbank in Cromer and Thetford Foodbank; plus Norwich Foodbank's locations at Wroxham & Hoveton United Reformed Church and its 7 locations in Norwich. Plus the Beccles Salvation Army and Stour Valley Vineyard Church in Sudbury.

We are delighted to accept this gift from Roys, having had support from them several times over the years with donations of toiletries, carrier bags and money.Hannah Worselyproject manager at Norwich Foodbank

More information about our local suppliers and how Roys helps charities is available on our Charity & Community page.

Staff Members from Roys' Wroxham Food Hall Hannah, Sam, Shane, and store manager Chris Mullender were happy to visit Helimed House and present a cheque for £6990 to members of the East Anglian Air Ambulance Team. The staff members were given a tour of the airbase which had recently re-opened in September after being extended and refurbished. The tour included their immersive training suite, thank you wall (which includes a plaque for Roys), and they were able to meet members of the crew. The building work has enabled the charity to operate 24/7 by air and road.

It was marvellous to visit the East Anglian Air Ambulance, and interesting to gain an insight into how they run the service. I was really impressed with their training suite and I'm really glad we could make such a meaningful contribution.Chris MullenderWroxham Food Hall Store Manager

The air ambulance was voted as the charity of the year for our Wroxham Food Hall by staff, and the donation was made possible primarily through sales of carrier bags throughout 2021, but also includes donations from collection pots and money raised through other events such as fancy dress days.

The EAAA is a service that may be needed by anyone within East Anglia and has saved countless lives, Roys are thankful to their customers for raising this money to help towards keeping the charity running. The charity does not receive any funding from the government and relies purely on donations and fundraising from the public. With each mission costing several thousands of pounds and equipment costing tens of thousands of pounds every penny helps to keep the service running.

More information about our local suppliers and how Roys helps charities is available on our Charity & Community page.

Roys are proud to announce the donation of £3380.56 to the Priscilla Bacon Hospice appeal, a donation which was made possible primarily through sales of carrier bags throughout 2021, but also includes donations from collection pots and money raised through other events such as fancy dress days.

The charity was chosen as Roys Bowthorpe store's charity of the year for 2021 after being nominated by mother and son employees at the store Lindsey & Paul Carr. The two nominated the appeal because Lindsey's late husband received hospice care at home with support from the Priscilla Bacon Lodge team and was subsequently voted for by the staff members in the store unanimously.

The Priscilla Bacon Lodge is a much-valued part of Norfolk's healthcare system, supporting up to 10,000 patients a year with their Hospice At Home team. Their current location has beds & facilities to provide inpatient palliative care for up to 16 patients, however since it opened in 1979 the population of Norfolk has increased significantly and there is a much greater need for palliative care in the county. Their appeal aims to raise £12.5 million to build a new hospice with modern facilities and capacity for up to 24 patients. Roys is thankful to our customers and staff for raising this money for such a worthy cause.

More information about our local suppliers and how Roys helps charities is available on our Charity & Community page.

This November we're making it easy for you to support both local suppliers, and those in need in your local community by doing one simple thing. Every time a local product is bought during November we'll donate 2p to a local foodbank so that they can give their emergency food parcels some extra Christmas cheer in December.

How do you know what's local?

While in store simply keep an eye out for the green "the Local Choice" or yellow "Supporting Local Business" signs in front of products. The Local Choice products are made locally and travel less than 50 miles to your store, meaning you can be confident you're buying products with low food miles. Supporting Local Business products are supplied by businesses within 50 miles of your local store, but either travel further than 50 miles to get to store, or the products they supply may not be locally made. By choosing both of these types of products you know you're helping your local economy, supporting local businesses, and helping to provide jobs in the local community. Both products from suppliers with the green or yellow signs are counted, so for every item you buy in November you know you'll also be helping your local foodbank too.

How many products in your shop could be local?

Lots, we stock thousands of products from over 100 local suppliers! Think local foods are just fresh fruits and vegetables? Think again! Tea bags? Choose Nelson & Norfolk Tea, and don't forget some Norfolk Cookie Company cookies to go with your cuppa. Cooking oil? Yare Valley oils or Hill Farm Oils are for you. Doing a spot of baking? Make sure you get Silver Spoon sugar and Marriages flour. Fancy a drink? Breckland Orchard and James White juices will quench your thirst. Something stronger? We've a wide selection of local beers, ciders, wines and gins. Even if you're after a fresh cut Christmas tree, that's local too! But don't worry, of course you can get seasonal local fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and all the sorts of things you'd expect as well.

How do you know you're helping a local foodbank?

We're not just tracking the total sales of local products, we're tracking the sales for each individual store. This means purchases of local items you make in store will put 2p each into the pot for the local foodbank near to your store rather than going to help foodbanks further afield.

More information about our local suppliers and how Roys helps charities is available on our Charity & Community page.

Roys has been crowned the Department Store of the Year at The Greats: Gift Retailer Awards after beating stiff competition from the likes of John Lewis & Partners and Fenwick. The award, conferred on Roys at The Greats Awards was attended by suppliers of gifts and homewares in the industry along with a plethora of notable retailers.

The organisers of the event explained that Roys of Wroxham was awarded Best department store in part for initiatives supporting the wider community over the difficult last 18 months.

The award was collected by Roys Gift buyer Sarah Cox to cheers from suppliers. Sarah, who has worked for Roys since leaving school, was overwhelmed with well-deserved best wishes from attendees and said she was “so pleased”.

Paul Roy, Buying and Marketing Director of Roys said “We are over the moon for Sarah and the team to be recognised with this award; we often talk about development and the journey but it is so nice to have an outcome once in a while that recognises the dedication and distinction of our colleagues, this is a special moment for us. Roys came from humble beginnings, founded by brothers Arnold and Alfred Roy and so it’s with great pride and immense gratitude that my brother (Managing Director) Ed and I thank our staff, our supply chain and our customers.”

Finalist of the Best Department store were:

• Barkers and Barkers Home, Northallerton
• Fenwick
• John Lewis & Partners
• Morleys Group
• Nicholls, Abergavenny, Brecon, Brecon Country, Crickhowell
• Roys of Wroxham, Wroxham

“With the festive season approaching, receiving the Best Department store from The Greats Gift Retailer Awards will hopefully give customers another reason to visit our 126-year-old business,” added Joanne Symonds, Marketing Manager for Roys.

During 2020 Roys is pleased to have been able to help a large number of charities and good causes both locally and nationally. The total number of causes Roys has been able to help is 143, ranging from air ambulances to rescued animals and everything in between. Around half of the causes helped were through raffle prize donations, meaning many of the donations will have hopefully gone on to help raise even more money for charity.

In total we've raised over £33,000 through our MADL donations, plastic bag charges, raffle prize donations & other money-raising such as wearing fancy dress on special days & in-store collections.

The 5p plastic bag charge has raised £15,692, going to several charities. Our stores have different charities of the year voted on by the staff and those charities will receive a donation equal to the amount that store has raised. In total 10 charities will receive the following donations; £4939.91 to Faith Animal Rescue (raised by our Wroxham Food Hall, fuel station, DIY Centre, head office and Norwich distribution centre), £1950.20 to Norfolk Accident Rescue Service (raised by our Wroxham Department Store, Garden Centre and Roys Toys), £3617.54 to the Friends of Harford Manor School (raised by our Bowthorpe store), £917.31 to Beccles Lions Club (raised by our Beccles store), £374.62 to St Martin's House (raised by our Dereham store), £1264.50 to Norfolk & Waveney MIND (raised by our Magdalen Street store), £357.35 to Friends of Horsey Seals (raised by our North Walsham store), £900.43 to The Bridge Project (raised by our Sudbury store), £968.97 to Nelson's Journey (raised by our Thetford store) and £401.33 to East Anglian Air Ambulance (raised by our Highway store).

Our Making A Difference Locally Fund (MADL) has helped 24 great causes with donations ranging from £100 to £1,000. In this scheme, money is put into Roys' MADL fund based on sales of selected grocery products sold in Roys stores and then used to help local charities and good causes. Donations from this scheme include; £1000 to Priscilla Bacon Lodge new hospice appeal, £500 to Sea Palling Lifeboats, £1000 to Norman Lamb's mental health charity, and, £500 each to Wroxham & Hoveton Good Neighbour Scheme foodbank and Falcon Junior School foodbank.

In store actions have raised nearly £5,000, with staff and customers coming together to help several great charities. Much of this money comes from collection pots in-store, but events such as Children in Need (£1,206), Christmas Jumper Day (£489 to Save The Children) and Wear It Pink (£285 to Breast Cancer Now) are also very significant.

More information about how Roys helps charities is available on our Charity & Community page. If you would like to be considered for the MADL fund please contact [email protected] telling us a bit about your charity or project and how you would like help.