By Emma Sneddon
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BONKERS BAKE OFF RAISES OVER £12,000 FOR LOROS HOSPICE
… A Huge Thank You
Following months of brainstorming, collaborating, organising, promoting and testing, Friday 26th March 2021 will be forever in our memories as the night that together, we made magic happen.
Together with customer and fellow Leicestershire business Trucklink EU, we went live on Facebook to deliver up a Bonkers Bake Off like no other, attracting hundreds of viewers live on the night and since achieving thousands of video views.
Organised to spread some joy and raise vital funds for LOROS Hospice, a charity that provides provide free, compassionate care and support to terminally ill adult patients, their family and carers, the event also featured a charity auction showcasing generously donated lots from businesses across the region.
Joining us on the night was our hand picked selection of bonkers bakers, that included CEO’s, COO’s, Directors and Owners of national and local businesses, as well as sporting legends and charity trustees… well we were absolutely spoiled for talent!
Our Best Bonkers Bits
With so many moments worth shouting about, we’ve selected our top 5 best bonkers bits to share with you, to reflect on a cracking event and perhaps even inspire you to organise your own virtual charity event too!
THAT INTRO VIDEO
Kicking the night off with a bang (as if you’d expect anything else), the Facebook live event started with an expertly produced intro video that got us singing and dancing along to Hot Stuff by Donna Summer, kindly licensed for the stream by Warner Chappell Music. Featuring both our bakers and business sponsors, there was some very dodgy dancing added to the mix… it’s definitely worth a re-watch!
BAKER SUPERPOWERS
On the night, ‘superpowers’ were launched to disadvantage the bakers; making it next to impossible to bake a deviously difficult LOROS family sponge recipe… that was missing a few (ok all) key measurements, ingredients and timings. My personal favourite? When Debbie had to throw her entire cake mix in the bin!
THE CAKE IN THE FACE
At the end of the Bonkers Bake Off, as we said our thank yous and goodbyes, we secretly organised two cream cakes to arrive at our host’s home addresses… which meant Ops Director Rachel and Managing Director Nigel got a cream cake to the face in celebration of a great event – what good sports they are!
SMASHING OUR TARGET
Having set a massive fundraising target of £10K (we always aim high), throughout the evening we celebrated key fundraising milestones LIVE. As the total climbed ever higher, the support continued to be overwhelming and we finished the project having achieved £10,761 in online donations – which amounts to £12,555 including all the lovely gift aid!
CHARITY AUCTION
The generosity of the business community was absolutely overwhelming, and helped us create an auction catalogue complete with 15 incredible lots. The silent auction style bidding meant that every bid was a maximum, resulting in more money added to the total. A huge thank you to all of the businesses that supported our event – you are true heroes.
Hear From LOROS
Speaking on the night, Chris Greenwell a Dispute Resolution Partner at ‘Gateley Legal’ and LOROS Hospice Trustee shared:
“On behalf of LOROS, I want to thank everyone at Welcomm and Trucklink for going absolutely beyond the call of duty. The hospice has experienced a funding deficit of more than £2mil as a result of the pandemic, which is why LOROS loves people like you. Thank you to all of our participants, and those that watched the event and donated towards the fundraising total – absolutely fantastic.”
Adding to this, Bruce Smith, Partnership Development Co-Ordinator at LOROS Hospice added:
“We are genuinely blown away by the energy, enthusiasm and outright skill shown by the teams at Welcomm and Trucklink in putting together such a slick, well run hilarious event. You are fundraising pioneers for sure!”
Laura Betts, Fundraising Manager at LOROS Hospice echoed Bruce’s comments:
“Everyone at LOROS has been blown away by your tremendous commitment and enthusiasm for the upcoming Rocket Round Leicester project and the Bonkers Bake Off event – we are so grateful to you for all that you are doing.”
Feeling inspired on the night was the winner; Leicester Mercury’s Inspirational Woman of the Year, Wendy Savill – who was voted ‘Star Baker’ by the Facebook live audience. Wendy celebrated with a twirl live on air!
