This month’s Company of the Month is Bettys Bakery and Cookery School!

Bettys Bakery and Cookery School, based in Harrogate, chose to support Candlelighters in October 2019 and the team set a huge target to raise £14,000 for Candlelighters over their year of fundraising, through various initiatives including staff sales, challenges and raffles.

They have chosen to put their fundraising towards “memories” for families who sadly lose a child to cancer. This includes keepsakes for families such as memory bears and fingerprint jewellery and Memory Making activities – which give a child who is receiving end of life care a special memory-making experience of their choice, to make their wishes come true. Bettys target of £14,000 would fund all Candlelighters memories projects for an entire year!

The Bettys team got stuck into their fundraising right from the beginning of the year however, the effects of the pandemic meant that many of their staff had to work from home, limiting their ability to fundraise. Despite this, the team were determined to continue raising funds, whilst adhering to all government guidelines.

Bettys Bakery and Cookery School remain on track to achieve their original target by October 2020!

Gina, Corporate Partnerships Executive at Candlelighters, said, “We are so grateful to all the team at Bettys Bakery and Cookery School for all their fundraising efforts. They have done a fantastic job and have continued to remain positive and determined throughout all the difficulties of the pandemic. This has been one of the most challenging times Candlelighters has ever faced, we really appreciate teams like Bettys for being the spark that is keeping our candle burning- thank you Bettys Bakery and Cookery School!”

Carolyn Smith, part of the charity team at Bettys, tells us, “With our planned calendar of events from running and cycling to treasure hunting and baking all cancelled in lockdown, the Charity team were really anxious about how to reach their fundraising goal for Candlelighters. But then came the cavalry! As the demand for our online operation increased to meet the needs of customers all over the world, we welcomed colleagues normally based in our branches to the bakery as support. This cohort of cheerful and dedicated staff have embraced the opportunity to join in raising funds for Candlelighters while still supporting their own branch charities and they have helped us to achieve more than we ever thought possible. We are continuing to adapt our ideas and next in the pipeline is a cookbook sharing our colleagues’ favourite recipes from across the business.”

Thank you so much Bettys Bakery and Cookery School!