Twelve Suffolk businesses and organisations rose to the task of turning a crisp £50 note into profit to donate to leading local charity St Elizabeth Hospice as part of their inaugural Accumulator Challenge.
Around £9,000 was raised in total following the six-month scheme which saw participants coming up with a range of fun and innovative ways to turn the £50 stake they were given by the Hospice into more charity cash – from the Great Suffolk Bake Off, to walking the equivalent distance to Geneva.
The Accumulator Challenge was such a success that a second one will be held in September and businesses can sign up now.
An awards ceremony was held recently at Seckford Golf Club near Woodbridge to thank the participants for their achievements.
Among those receiving awards were:
- Barclays Bank in Needham Market – for raising the most amount of money, £1,500 from a table top sale
- Genesis PR – most innovative fundraiser with the Great Suffolk Bake Off which netted £1,145
The other participants were:
- MSC – staff walked the equivalent distance to their office in Geneva
- Suffolk County Council – held a sponsored bike ride and art sale
- Daisy Distribution – held cake sales, raffles and car boot sales
- Seckford Golf Club – various activities
- Network Rail, Lowestoft – book and DVD sales, guess the bunny and raffles
- Barclays Bank Woodbridge – a table top sale in the branch
- Barclays Bank Ipswich – various activities
- Prettys – held bake sales, a dress down day, rugby six nations sweepstake
- Ashton KJC Felixstowe – various activities
- AV Unit – various activities
The next Accumulator Challenge in September will last for three months and Legal and General in Ipswich have already signed up.
St Elizabeth Hospice’s Business Partnerships Officer Sarah Archer said: “Our first Accumulator Challenge was a great success and we are pleased that our business supporters enjoyed being part of it.
“They all embraced the scheme with enthusiasm and creativity and together the profit they made amounted to around £9,000 – which has been donated to the Hospice – and could fund a nurse for around three months.”
She added: “St Elizabeth Hospice costs millions of pounds a year to run and we rely on fundraising and donations from local businesses and the wider community. We would love more organisations to join in our next Accumulator Challenge in September and help us to grow local Hospice care for local people.”
The challenge was sponsored by Suffolk-based e-marketing company Little Green Plane.
If you’re interested in participating in September’s Accumulator Challenge for St Elizabeth Hospice call Business Partnerships Officer Sarah Archer on 01473 707035 or email sarah.archer@stelizabethhospice.org.uk
Left: Teams from St Elizabeth Hospice’s Accumulator Challenge celebrate their fundraising achievements. Right: Genesis PR receive their award for most creative fundraiser with the Great Suffolk Bake Off.