Hosting your first Coffee Morning - do it your way
Your first Coffee Morning
If you’ve already chosen to sign up for this year’s Coffee Morning thank you so much for your support. If you’re thinking of signing up soon, you might wonder what happens next.
Whether your event is big or small, you’re already doing a great thing to support people living with cancer. Here are our top tips for taking the stress out of planning and maximising your enjoyment on the day.
Do Coffee Morning your way
After choosing whether to host, deciding where your Coffee Morning will be is probably next on your list. Picking a a venue usually falls into 2 camps: hosting at home or in a public venue. Thinking about what kind of event you want to host will help you decide this. Here are some ideas and things to consider.
Hosting a Coffee Morning at home
Having a Coffee Morning in your own home offers comfort and the maximum opportunity to do things your own way. You could have a:
- pizza party
- barbecue
- or invite friends around for brunch.
Keeping your guestlist to friends, family and neighbours can make life simpler. You could jointly host with a friend or neighbour to lighten the load.
Consider things you might need to borrow, such as chairs or a barbecue, if you're using an outdoor space and it's a nice day.
Hosting a public Coffee Morning event
"We hosted a Coffee Morning at a community hall because we work with people with different health conditions like cancer. We invited councillors and local residents - it was great to see how much they collaborated to raise money for Macmillan." - Vanessa, Coffee Morning host
If you have somewhere in mind for a public event, it's really important to have permission to host your event there.
Whether it's your first Coffee Morning or you want to shake things up and do something different this time, there are plenty of options. For instance, you could host a community cooking competition.
- If you're hosting at a school get the date in the school calendar early so nobody misses out. If the school has a newsletter, ask for the event to be included in it.
- If you're hosting at work get the date agreed early and ask your workplace if they can match donations. Send an email around to your workmates about your event. If your workplace has an internal newsletter, ask for the details to be included there too.
- If you're hosting your local community put up posters early at the venue so people know about your event. If there's a local community newsletter or Facebook group share the details there too.
Top tip: Check out our list of Coffee Morning fundraising games for inspiration.
Share your event
Pick a date
Coffee Morning 2025 is on Friday 26 September, but many people pick a date during September that suits them. It doesn't have to be in the morning either!
We know everyone's lives can be busy, so share your event with friends, family, or community to make sure they save the date! Before you choose a date, look out for any potential clashes with other local events that might be happening.
Choose what to bake
Whatever your baking abilities, making something for others is bound to bring some nerves. Consider ditching the Bake Off mindset and be kind to yourself. Pick your tried and tested recipes. Or if you can’t bake it, fake it. Consider buying something if you don’t have the time to bake at home.
Think about having a range of food to cater for people’s dietary needs. If you’re stuck for inspiration, check out our delicious baking and coffee recipes:
Ask friends and family to help
Don't be afraid to ask for help. Whether it's asking someone you know who's a whizz at making posters or posting on social media, everyone will want your event to be a success.
Make donating easy
Provide boxes for people to leave their cash donations. After your event you can the pay in online. You will also receive a QR code in your Coffee Morning pack that will be posted to you so you can receive cashless donations.
Whatever type of event you host, it all makes a big difference to people living with cancer. Read the answers to our frequently asked questions if there's more you'd like to find out.
Sign up
We hope these top tips have shown you that coffee morning's don't need to be complicated, and you're inspired to take the plunge and host one this year.
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