Trowbridge mayor launches World's Biggest Coffee Morning

It’s been 20 years since the good people of Trowbridge first raised their cups to Macmillan Cancer Support’s famous fundraiser, the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. To celebrate the anniversary, the Mayor of Trowbridge, Councillor Clive Blackmore, opened this year’s event on Tuesday 13 July.

The launch was also  attended by Anna Cairns, Macmillan Fundraising Manager, Alan Cane, committee chairman of Macmillan fundraising group, The Lady In Red, which is the Mayor’s chosen charity for the year, and Trowbridge resident, Barbara Gage, 73, who has hosted a Coffee Morning at her home for the past 16 years and raised a whopping £5000 for the charity.

Barbara started supporting Macmillan after a friend was diagnosed with cancer and she would like to encourage more people to take part in the fundraising. “The coffee mornings are good fun. I get to see people I haven’t seen in a while and we always have a good chat. It’s an easy thing to put on, you don’t need to go overboard and it’s wonderful to see how generous people are,” she said.

Last year there were 31 Coffee Mornings held across Trowbridge, which raised over £3000, and 116 across South Wiltshire, which raised £12,000.  For the 20th birthday Macmillan would like more companies and communities to hold their own event – another ten is the goal for this year.

The official day for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Friday 24 September, but fundraisers can choose any day that suits them. Organisers can make their event however they like, it can be big or small - a morning tea or a garden party, champagne and canapés or a pub quiz, a craft sale or an auction, even a concert! Its all good fun and its all for a great cause.

Information and registration details can be found at www.macmillan.org.uk/coffee| or phone the local office on 0117 967 0975 for further details.