MORRISONS Bude announced on Monday that it will be raising a smile for its Charity of the Year 2009, Cancer Research UK.

The partnership was launched at the symbolic time of 3pm, marking the fact that one-in-three people in the UK will develop cancer at some stage in their lives. The launch was kicked off by three members of staff dropping the first pound coins into ­collection buckets.

Morrisons has pledged to raise at least £1 million for Cancer Research UK during the year-long partnership, which will help fund research into better prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease and provide health awareness messaging to the British public.

Around 289,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK. And while one-in-three people in the UK will be told they have the disease at some stage in their lives, the good news is that more and more individuals are surviving thanks to improved treatments and earlier diagnosis. Half of people diagnosed with cancer now survive for more than five years.

Customers will be able to join in the fundraising efforts by putting a donation into the collection buckets in store following the launch.

Bude Store General Manager, Mark Morris, said: "We are really pleased to be working with Cancer Research UK as our Charity of the Year and look forward to helping raise vital funds. It's a fantastic charity which does great work to help beat this disease, which affects so many families. I'm really proud that my colleagues can take part in the launch event."

Karen Davis, Cancer Research UK spokesperson, said: "We are delighted that Morrisons has chosen us as its year long Charity of the Year and we look forward to working with the company throughout the coming months on a range of exciting fundraising initiatives across the region. So watch this space!"

All 382 Morrisons stores across the UK launched the charity partnership with Cancer Research at 3pm, following the selection of the new charity partner by Morrisons employees.

Morrisons charity initiative, Raise a Smile, sees the UK's fourth largest supermarket annually ask its employees to choose a worthwhile charitable cause to be its nominated Charity of the Year, and for 2009 Cancer Research UK was the resounding choice.

There will be a number of fundraising activities throughout the year in Bude and across all UK Morrisons stores to help achieve the £1 million ­target.