Lisburn woman celebrates eight years of fundraising

“I have organised the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning at Lisburn City Council since 2005 and next week will be my eighth year,” she explained. “To date I have raised £2100

“As I said, I run the coffee morning in my work. I invite all the staff and also the councillors and the Mayor. In order to keep costs down to a minimum (and obviously raise more money), I ask our caterers Mount Charles to provide the food for the event – tea, coffee and scones, and then charge a minimum entry of £3 in for the privilege.

“As an additional fundraiser, I also ask the staff to make or bring buns and cakes and hold a cake sale alongside the coffee morning – this always ends up starting well before the coffee morning as people vie for the homemade goodies to bring home. I am also lucky in that my mum and a good friend of mine are also brilliant bakers and provide me with at least six dozen buns which I parcel up and bring for my contribution.”

She continued: “My motivation to take part was because I have known several people, family and friends, who have been diagnosed with or died from various forms of cancer and I want to raise as much money as I can to help people living with cancer and to find cures for this awful disease. I generally only organise this event, although I did once do a sponsored walk with my family in our local area.

“I believe it’s important to stay involved with Macmillan and keep doing these coffee mornings as all funds big or small raised for the charity are important and even small amounts can make a difference to people living with cancer. The coffee morning is also a relatively straightforward event to organise and is great to get people together for a chat that wouldn’t normally do so.”

To take part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning go to www.macmillan.org.uk/maketime or call 0845 602 1246 to receive your free fundraising pack. If you or anyone you know, have questions about cancer, need support or just want to chat, call free on 0808 808 0000.