Bakers have a long and proud history of supporting the less fortunate – particularly at this time of year.
Here we look at what three businesses are doing to support charities and their local communities during the festive season.
Butterwick Bakery
Butterwick Bakery has created a festive doughnut to raise funds for local charity Northampton Saints Foundation.
The Big Bauble – a doughnut with a pink glaze, festive red sauce and Christmas sprinkles – was designed by Callum, a student on the foundation’s Aspire programme. The foundation uses sport to inspire and educate young people, working with them to develop new skills and rebuild their confidence.
Butterwick Bakery, which has six stores in towns across Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, was approached by the foundation to bring Callum’s design to life and help raise funds to support the charity’s work.
The Big Bauble doughnut is on sale now at Butterwick Bakery’s stores until the end of December, with proceeds being donated to the foundation.
“We like to do everything we can to support our local community and Northampton Saints Foundation do incredible work to support young people,” said Butterwick Bakery’s Annaliese Brown.
BBF Limited
Cake and desserts supplier BBF Limited will be donating thousands of products to national homeless charity Crisis.
The business has been supporting Crisis for more than ten years through regular product donations and is this Christmas giving 10,000 products, including 4,500 mince pies and 1,600 portions of Christmas cake.
“We know Christmas can be a challenging time for many and, unfortunately, it’s unlikely that this Christmas will be any different, so we hope that our donation of festive favourites can help those most in need,” said BFF chief executive Jonathan Lill.
Crisis said the donation of baked goods from BBF was a vital component of the catering it provides at Christmas.
“As the cost of living soars, thousands of people are at risk of being forced on to the cold streets, into sofa surfing or temporary accommodation, as they struggle to make ends meet,” added Richard Davies, manager of Crisis’ Christmas warehouse.
Cooplands
Cooplands, which was last year acquired by EG Group, has launched the Christmagic campaign to provide free festive food to customers, communities and employees across Yorkshire, the North East and Lincolnshire.
The business said it wanted to thank local people following the disruption caused by the pandemic and in the current cost-of-living crisis by delivering food to groups that support local communities.
Staff and members of the public across the Cooplands trading area have been nominating local causes to receive surprise visits from a bespoke Christmagic van that will distribute food.
“The Christmagic campaign is all about giving back to people across our local communities – particularly those who are contributing to wonderful causes across the north of England at this tricky time,” said Cooplands customer and marketing director Caroline Jones.
She added that the van will also be visiting the company’s bakeries in Scarborough, Hull and Durham: “We want to thank our staff for their tireless efforts, especially during the festive season.”
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