Free delivery on orders over £40, only £3.95 under £40
Free delivery on orders over £40, only £3.95 under £40
Welcome to our blog, your one-stop resource for news, features and resources for living life to the fullest. View our articles on the latest mobility products and features with disability bloggers.
Posted by Jamie McKay on September 23, 2020
Pic via Canva
Friday 25 September is the date for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, an annual event hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support. But what happens at the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, and where did it all begin?
Back in 1990, Macmillan Cancer Support had a simple idea, a group of people could meet up, have a coffee together and give a small donation for cancer support.
Fast forward to 2020 and this idea has now become the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning and in 2019 it raised an astonishing £27.5 million pounds!
Indeed, ever since that first coffee meeting, over £275 million pounds has been raised for Macmillan.
Have a look at this short video below explaining just how vital and helpful the coffee mornings are:
Back in 1911, cancer was seen as a mystery illness and even called a ‘black scourge’. Douglas Macmillan had just lost his Father to cancer and wanted to make sure that he did something to help people going through a similar experience.
Before his Father died, he gave Douglas ten pounds and he used that very same ten pounds to set up the Society for the Prevention and Relief of Cancer.
Douglas wanted there to be help and information that didn’t cost much, for those living with cancer and voluntary nurses that could visit patients in their own homes.
Over the decades since 1911, Macmillan has become one of the leading cancer charities in the UK, and that same ethos created by Douglas Macmillan still stands to this day.
Not only do they provide help, they are also a community, a forum for those living with cancer, and their families, to connect with other people.
This can be vital to help people from becoming isolated and even more so this year when we have had a national lockdown and several local lockdowns in place right now.
You can find out more about the history of Macmillan Cancer Support here. Including a fascinating video that takes you from 1911 to the present day.
In years gone by, taking part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning was simple, you just had to sign up with Macmillan to host one, they would send out information and posters, then you asked friends, neighbours, relatives and work colleagues to attend.
Of course, as with much of 2020, things have changed because of the coronavirus.
This year, along with being able to host or attend socially distant coffee mornings, there is the option of holding a virtual coffee morning.
You can even download special backgrounds for the virtual coffee morning, a particular favourite of ours is this gingerbread one.
Baking (and eating!) has become an integral part of the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, people are encouraged to make cakes and biscuits to bring along.
The success of The Great British Bake Off (which returned on Tuesday night by the way) has seen baking have quite a resurgence over the past few years, not to mention how popular baking was during the lockdown, it seemed like everyone was making banana bread for months!
Even if your oven is your arch-nemesis, you could bring in some cakes from Aldi (other supermarkets are available) to share with friends and colleagues.
Macmillan even have some fantastic recipes for people to try, on their website here.
Having had a quick look at the cake recipes we are beginning to wish we hadn’t skipped breakfast this morning!
If you would like to host a coffee morning or find out if there is one being held near you then you can find all the details here.
To give you an idea just how invaluable these annual coffee mornings are, here are a few examples of what the money can be used for:
A donation of £52 will contribute towards running Macmillan’s online community, with over 750 people using the community for support.
£250 could pay for a family of five who are living with a family member with cancer to go to a health and wellbeing event.
£546 is enough to pay for a Macmillan Social Care Worker for one week. Providing families who are living with cancer help with managing social and practical daily living.
£1023 would be enough money to pay for a Macmillan nurse for a week, helping people living with cancer and their families to get essential medical and emotional support.
It’s incredible that what started out as a simple idea for a coffee morning has become the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in such a short space of time!
if you would like to join in this year why not take a look at the Macmillan website for further information.
Why not sign up today and arrange to have a coffee morning at work or online with your friends and family on the 25 September then we can all help to contribute to this worthy cause.
Here at Ability Superstore we have also created a list of support organisations and charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, which you can see here.
Visit our Facebook page for details on our latest competition which is all about baking!
