How to host a Coffee Morning on a budget

Take the stress out of finding a venue by using what you may already have available.

Hosting a Coffee Morning at home is an easy way to keep your event low-cost. Holding it at home also offers an opportunity to break away from a traditional coffee and cake event. For example, why not host 'brunch and books' with your weekly book club. Or use your garden to throw a BBQ themed Coffee Morning.

You could also host at work. This is a great way to bring your colleagues, suppliers and customers together. You could ask them to contribute by bringing food or donating raffle prizes. 

If you need a larger venue so you can invite more people, you could try hosting at:

• a community centre or hall
• a place of worship
• your local library.

If there is a cost to rent the venue, they may offer a discount or wave the fee if you tell them you are raising funds for Macmillan.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on resources and decorations to make your event great.

You will receive free decorations in your fundraising pack like cake labels and balloons. We also have many free Coffee Morning resources to download.

In your fundraising pack, you will also receive a table cloth, but that doesn't mean you can't use different ones. Your guests may have some they can bring to help you set up, or you could use a fun-patterned, unused bed cloth or curtain too.

Using mismatched plates and cutlery is also a fun way to give your Coffee Morning a bohemian feeling.

There are many ways you can keep your event low-cost and eco-friendly.

A fun thing you could do is to ask your guests to bring their favourite mug. This way you don't have to buy disposable cups and it saves you from having to wash up.

In your fundraising pack, you'll receive QR codes linked to your fundraising page. By encouraging your Coffee Morning guests to donate online, it'll help save you a trip to the Post Office or bank to pay in your fundraising.

Lastly, if you have hosted a Coffee Morning before you can use the decorations you received in your previous fundraising pack again! We can send you a lite fundraising kit for your event this year so you get just what you need this years bash.

We'll send you some fundraising games in your fundraising kit you can do at your Coffee Morning.

But there are other things you can do on a low-budget such as:

• Ask guests about their favourite songs and add it to your Coffee Morning playlist. No need for a fancy sound system if you're hosting a smaller Coffee Morning, you can use devices you already have like a Bluetooth speaker or TV.
• Ask people to bring their favourite board or card game. This can be a fun way for people to get involved in your event if they cannot bring food or drinks.
• Recruit people to do a performance. If you're hosting a community Coffee Morning, there may be local bands, singers or comedians who will perform for free.
• Keep it simple and do classic party games. Games such as charades, Who Am I? and pub quizzes are always a crowd pleaser.

If you're unable to host a Coffee Morning, you can still make a difference.

There may be Coffee Mornings near you that you can support. Use our postcode search to find Coffee Morning events near you.