Share your thoughts on Matalan’s Alder Hey campaigns - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Having earned themselves a Mumsnet Family Friendly gold award, Matalan understand how to provide a great customer experience for families. However, what you might not know is that for the past 3 years they have also been working in partnership with Alder Hey Children’s hospital in Liverpool, to fund a life-saving innovation centre, for much needed research into finding cures for childhood conditions such as arthritis, cancer and diabetes.

So far in a bid to raise funds, Matalan have run campaigns selling alphabetical scarves, beanie and bobble hats, and striped pyjamas - with lots of big name celebrities getting involved too!

Matalan say “The partnership between Alder Hey and Matalan has been going for 3 years now. Back in 2014 we set about raising awareness of the hospital charity and how even though they are a North West based hospital they are in fact one of the busiest children’s hospital in Europe - treating children from right across the UK. As well as driving awareness we committed to raise £1.5M towards the new research and innovation centre that would benefit children across the country and in some cases the world. In just 3 years we've already smashed that target, raising £1.6M.”

Now Matalan want to hear your thoughts on their campaigns so far, as well as hearing your ideas for what products they would like to see in stores next year to help raise even more money.

Do take some time to watch the documentary about one of the children that has been helped by the new research centre and to find out more. Share on this thread which have been your favourite of the Matalan & Alder Hey campaigns so far and why? Have you ever purchased any of these products in the past or would you consider doing so in the future? The team at Matalan are also keen to hear your ideas for their future campaigns, so please add to the thread below with your ideas for future projects.

Previous campaigns include Alphabet Scarves in 2014, Bobble vs Beanie in 2015 and Get your Stripes PJs in 2016

Add your thoughts on the campaigns to date and your ideas on what they can do this year and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £300 Love2Shop voucher (which can be spent in Matalan and other stores!).

Thanks and good luck
Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

For everyone that was meant to say

I love the products Matalan have sold in aid of their Alder Hey campaign so far the matching pyjamas and alphabet scarves were my favourites, I'd love to see more Alphabet products from cushions to gloves to t-shirts

I wasn't aware of the campaign until as I have just watched the clip. It was very touching. The pyjamas sound like a good idea. I guess anything with the same colour stripes could be sold, like t shirts and slippers.

I was not aware of the campaign before but it does sound like a good thing.

Popular novelties would be badges, keyrings, bracelets, tote bags or fold away rain Mac's.

I wasn't aware of the campaign until
I joined Mumsnet, but then I don't watch a lot of tv and don't really have a Matalan store close by. All of the ideas so far look great though and I love that the striped pyjamas remind me of a stick of rock, as all kids love rock! I also like the alphabet purses and hair brushes that are currently selling online. I think any items that can be personalised with say letters are a fab idea, as people can support the campaign by buying these as gifts for birthdays, Christmas etc too. Homeware items would be items that I would buy, so mugs or candle votives with letters on too would be good as you could buy multiple votives to spell out words e.g. Christmas, cosy, home, love etc. I would also buy teatowels with a good design too, or as others have said, blankies, throws or items incorporating the word 'Hey'. What about hoodies for all that have 'Hey' on them? Like the Ted Baker or Gap ones that have their branding on. Good luck with whatever you decide upon 😀

Just been trying to find my daughter a party outfit for her birthday that stands out there really is not much out there apart from dresses however I need an outfit she can run in as party is being held in a indoornot play area so trousers and top would be better for her. Having trawled through the shopping malls and internet (with very little choice out there, I have resorted to getting premium glitter iron on transfers that I will put on a plain tshirt. Yet to find a nice trouser or jegging smart enough yet partywear. My suggestion would be more partywear outfits that are trousers and tops sets. Also personalisation options for tops

I think this partnership is brilliant. My son had treatment at Alder hey when he was a baby and the care given to him and us there was second to none so I fully support this partnership.

I was gutted to miss out on the pyjamas last year and I much preferred this idea for the whole family than the hats and scarves. I would suggest going with pyjamas again as they were such a big hit and I think could grow bigger each year becoming somewhat of a family tradition except change the theme each year.

Thinking of what I would buy from matalan and thus what they could partner up with in future years (as well as PJs as above) - slippers (always got to have slippers in winter), gloves, bedding (festive), ear muffs (with a campaign to get them back in fashion ) and humongous teddy bears (if the popularity of them on the Christmas bargain thread last year is anything to go by)!

Great campaign. I think matching pyjamas for the family are the way to go. People really buy into this & the more members of the family the more money is made!

Love these alder hey campaigns.

I got my DD a bobble hat from the alder hey shop when my son was being treated there but I couldn't get a matching bobble for myself, I went to Matalan but they had limited stock.

Think the message here is that we need more stock please!

I loved the bobble campaign, DD still wears her's and I would buy a new one each year to support the charity as they really do work miracles at Alder Hey. Maybe ear muffs would be good aswell.

Maybe more seasonal themes e.g. Valentines, Easter etc would work too.

Like PP ideas about tote bags / lunch bags, how about a travel cup with lid and matching children cups with lids / sports drink cups.

Keep up the good work alder hey and matalan xxx

I only became aware when I saw the pyjamas this year.
They looked great, very eye catching! They wouldn't have suited me though, and dd will only wear nighties!
Do keep doing these campaigns though. I have had a poorly child in hospital and know how much difference every penny can make

Only one thought is whether the campaign could go to a nearby hospital? There are so many incredibly poorly children at our local hospital too. I expect people in each branch might feel more affinity to their nearest children's hospital?

I wanted pj's but didnt manage to get any as there wasnt enough for the whole family. They sold out so early and never restocked. It was very disappointing. More pjs = more money for Alder Hey!! Could you consider online pre orders to understand demand?

I think instead of choosing a few products for customers to buy to support Alder Hey they should just make it Every Product sold and give a few pence donation from each item sold, most people would help but might not need the item being sold to raise money eg beanie hats. Also a store day eg "wear your PJs to work day" and customers can donate at the tills for the best PJs the staff can have a competition to see who collects the most. Alder Hey are amazing with the kids not just medically but personally too, my children have been there for ops and they were fab !!

I have huge respect and admiration for the work Alder Hey does and always support the Materland campaign. I would like to see charm bracelets and rucksacks/bags next time

Oops I meant Matalan, joys of spell check

I'm a regular matalan shopper and had no idea this campaign existed! I've never seen any of the items described in the OP in their catalogues. And I've never seen any mention of alder hey in my local shop. I would love to support the campaign, now I know I will keep an eye out in the shop.

I was in Matalan yesterday and didn't notice anything about the campaign, so better in store advertising would be good.

I have posted on MN many times about how Alder Hey saved DD's life 15years ago. She was nearly killed by a simple cold sore .
The staff there are amazing and have shared expertise with me on a professional level.
We managed to get all the family and several friends, Christmas PJ's (sorry for buying up all the stock!). I think as an idea it's very hard to beat as a lot of families buy new PJ's at Christmas anyway! I would like to see more PJ's this year. I'm in the North west so something like "Hey Up" written on them would be good. . Failing that, hoodies, bags or waterproof cagouls for days out!!

The work Alder Hey do is amazing. I live not far away in Manchester, but I was unaware of any of these campaigns and would have been more than happy to support them - the hospital has a great reputation in Manchester too. Maybe raising awareness of such campaigns a little further afield too? Could some of the children being treated there and their families perhaps design some vests or onesies that could be sold? And maybe the children designing a range of Christmas cards/ cards for other events eg Mother's Day/ Father's Day?

I wasn't aware it existed either. Was it promoted outside of the store? The concept is obviously brilliant though, well done.

Such an amazing campaign, I hadn't heard of it until now. They definitely need some more advertising, it's great to be able to see where your money is going too!

I loved the alphabetic campaign, that was definitely my favourite so far.

I really loved the pyjamas for the kids last Christmas, I thought they looked really cute, but I wasn't keen on them in the adult version.

How about alphabetic Christmas baubles or mugs next year.

Great campaign, pj's were lovely for Christmas as lots of social media pics with families in stripes for alder hey so raising the profile of the hospital and the store.

I think the summer range idea is great. How about sun hats? Kids always need them for school

My 21 month old is a cardiac patient at Alder Hey & has had 13 admissions there! The longest one lasting 10 weeks! We are aware of the campaign & although we got involved with #getyourstripes (Jake always wears his stripey onesie when he goes for a day admission!) and #teambobble & #teambeanie , our absolute fave was the alphabet scarf campaign!

I'd say pretty much all the families get behind the matalan campaign , so a blanket would be a good shout ! We can always use a good blanket in hospital ! Maybe mittens v gloves ? The hospital has got its own mascots , there's Oli elephant and more recently Slone the Fox - would be great if they were incorporated into whatever u decide on, there's a lot of love for Slone in particular , we always rub his nose for luck when we are there ! It's an Alder Hey tradition !

Also, well done & thank you ! (Sorry , missed that bit off!)

I didn't know of these campaigns I'll look out for the next one