Macmillan Cancer Support is the official charity partner of the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running, and is hoping to beat the £74,000 it raised last year. The charity has been the official partner of the event, due to be held this year on 24 September, since 2009. This year it hopes the event will raise at least £75,000, which will go towards funding Macmillan’s support nurses and helpline.

Employees of the data-management company MyLife Digital Group will cycle 130 miles to raise money for Dorothy House Hospice Care. The sponsored ride, on Saturday 5 August, will start at the Dorothy House charity shop in Winsley, Wiltshire, and will visit the charity’s shops in in Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury, Warminster, Frome, Shepton Mallet, Midsomer Norton, Keynsham, Bath, Corsham, Chippenham, Malmesbury, Calne, Devizes and Melksham before returning to Winsley. Some members of the team will complete the whole ride and some will join for different legs of the journey.

The supplement company Wiley’s Finest Wild Alaskan Fish Oils has partnered with the pregnancy and baby charity Baby Lifeline. During August and September, 5 per cent of the proceeds of every sale of two of Wiley’s supplements will be donated to Baby Lifeline to help the charity purchase medical equipment and to provide training for healthcare professionals. The company has also donated an oil painting by the nationally recognised artist Anna Rose Bain, which the charity will auction to raise money.

Staff at the Central England Co-operative have voted for Dementia UK as its charity partner for the next 12 months. Customers will be able to support the charity by donating when they visit food stores, funeral homes or travel shops, and staff will also take part in a range of fundraising events. All the money raised will be used to provide specialist support to families affected by dementia through the charity’s Admiral Nurse service and Dementia Helpline. 

The National Autistic Society plans to launch a week-long Autism Hour campaign in partnership with the shopping centre owner intu this autumn. As part of the campaign, every retailer, restaurant and leisure operator at intu’s 14 centres in the UK are being asked to reduce their lights, music and other background noise for an hour at 10am on Monday 2 October. The charity aims to give autistic people a break from the kinds of stimuli that can leave them feeling overloaded with information and distressed. Other shops and services will be encouraged to hold their own Autism Hours across the week as part of the National Autistic Society’s wider Too Much Information campaign to reduce the overload that autistic people can experience in public.