Building on previous years events, where we staged conventional coffee mornings for the charity, this year we went one better, introducing an element of competitive fun with our very own Great Spectra Bake-Off.
We aimed to raise more than previous years by getting more staff involved, and as usual, our employees rose to the challenge. There was an abundance of delicious bakes, which were gratefully consumed by donating staff during the mid-day event in our dedicated event marquee on the grounds of our site.
We were delighted to welcome Jordan Catchpole, fresh back from Tokyo after his Paralympic gold medal success, who kindly agreed to judge the submissions. He even brought along his gold medal, which everyone was only too keen to see.
Jordan seemed more than happy to enjoy a small sample of each contribution before deciding which was his favourite. What was apparent was that Jordan likes his savoury treats, judging Customer Services Representative Eleanor Barham, Star Baker, for her mouth-watering scotch eggs, which disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Indeed the savoury’s showed their popularity again when Angie Sankey from the HR department scooped the second prize for her scrumptious sausage rolls, another staff favourite on the day. However, the sweet taste of third place went to Ella-Rose Harrison-Reeve from the Marketing Department, with her tasty Rocky Road cake, which made a real impression on Jordan and everyone else.
All three winners received limited edition Spectra Bake-Off aprons for their endeavours, with Eleanor also walking away with an afternoon tea for two voucher at a local restaurant.
To add even more competitive fun to the proceedings, local customer Herrco Cosmetics threw down the gauntlet, challenging Spectra’s best bake against their own in a battle of the bakers.
Both companies agreed to donate an extra £50 should they not win. Diplomatically, Jordan decided he couldn’t separate either entry and announced a draw, meaning the charity made an additional £100 instead of £50. Well done, and thanks to Herrco for helping to swell the coffers further.
The event was rounded off with a raffle draw with various prizes for staff to win, including wine, gin, restaurant vouchers, chocolates and an Amazon voucher. Each ticket purchased bolstering donations even further.
Joe Maynard, Managing Director at Spectra, said, “It’s heartening to see our employees coming up with inventive and fun ways to raise money for vital charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support. It’s fair to say the Great Spectra Bake-Off is here to stay, and who knows, perhaps we can have separate sweet and savoury categories next year, which I’m sure will raise even more donations”.
The money raised by our generous employees surpassed previous year’s events and will no doubt be gratefully received by Macmillan.
For example, the donations will help pay for up to eight people affected by cancer to attend a health and wellbeing event, providing them with skills to improve the management of these areas in their lives. Similarly, donations raised can pay for a Macmillan grant that would help two families affected by cancer to take a holiday and enjoy precious time together. It could even pay for a Macmillan Support Worker for a week, helping patients, family members and carers manage the social and practical problems of living with cancer.
