Weetabix donates £10,000 as well as hampers and goody bags to Kettering hospice

Weetabix has donated £10,000 along with hampers, goody bags and products to the nurses and staff at Cransley Hospice.

Staff at the cereal giant held baking competitions, flash mobs, treasure hunts, bingo evenings and even a summer fundraising event with a giant Weetabix to raise £10,000 during the past year.

Representatives from Cransley Hospice Trust also joined in with some of the events, including judging the baking competition.

The money raised by staff was matched with £5,000 from Weetabix Food Company to bring the total to just over £10,000, making Weetabix one of Cransley Hospice's most successful Charity of the Year partnerships.

Stuart Branch, group people and IT director at Weetabix, said: “Giving back to the local Northamptonshire community is an important part of our charity ethos here at Weetabix and we’re very proud to have worked with Cransley Hospice.

"The staff have had a lot of fun raising the money, especially throwing wet sponges at each other during the summer fundraising day and we are delighted to be able to donate £10,000 to Cransley, alongside hampers and goody bags for the staff at the hospice.”

Cransley Hospice has continued to provide specialist palliative care for patients with complex needs throughout the nationwide lockdown as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Support from companies like Weetabix is vital to the hospice, especially as the fundraising events have been unable to continue, leaving the charity short by around £500,000 from income that would usually come from the community, the events, the retail and coffee shop.

Louise Preedy, community fundraising manager at Cransley Hospice, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Weetabix and all the staff involved for choosing to support Cransley as their charity of the year.

"We know too well the hard work and effort that goes into raising money and would like to thank everyone that has been involved.

"The money raised is more important than ever right now as it costs around £1.4 million a year to run the hospice and during the lockdown many of our usual fundraising activities and events have had to stop.”

Weetabix Food Company announced Cransley Hospice as one of its charity partners following a vote by employees in 2019.

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