Why Mitchells Dairy Help our Heroes

Last month, we threw our weight behind the Help for Heroes Colossal Cake Sale and we are delighted to say that, thanks to the generosity of our customers, we raised £153.07 for the charity.

Following that terrific effort, we were once again delighted to support Help for Heroes at last weekend's Cocktails, Clothes and Cakes event at Meldrum House Country Hotel and Golf Course.

Set amidst beautiful countryside just a few short miles from Aberdeen, The 4 Gold Star Meldrum is one of Scotland's finest luxury hotels - and fortunately for everyone in attendance, the sun shone throughout.

It was a lovely afternoon with fashion shows by local businesses, a fantastic cocktail reception and afternoon tea, and the event raised well in excess of £3300 for Help for Heroes, which is a magnificent effort by everyone involved.

Help for Heroes do some amazing work for our wounded soldiers and their families, and we wanted to let you know why Mitchells Dairy support this thoroughly deserving charity.

As well as other friend and family connections with the forces, Judy's step-aunt, Louise Bennet, has three sons who are currently serving, or have previously been in the Royal Marines, and she sends thousands of buns to British troops in Afghanistan.

Louise has dispatched around 68,000 buns, and currently sends out 450 per week to 12 addresses; 11 in Afghanistan and one to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Five of the current dispatches go to 2 SCOTS, who are in various areas of Afghanistan. 

You can read more about 'Louby Lou’s Buns of Mass Production', the nickname given to them by Terry Wogan after she sent him a batch when he did the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show, in this article in The Daily Mail.

You can also watch Louise talking about her 'Buns of Mass Production' on STV's The Hour, with Darius Campbell and Michelle McManus below.

It is through Louise that we got to hear of Help for Heroes, and since then, Judy's dad and step mum have held two garden parties in recent years to fundraise, which has raised over £15,000 for the charity.

So, to cut a long story short, this is why we jumped at the chance to be part of Meldrum House’s event and take part in the Help for Heroes Colossal Cake Sale!

We would love to hear your stories about why you support Help for Heroes, or indeed, why you support any particular charity. As usual, you can let us know on this blog post, or on Facebook or Twitter.

Make Sure You Follow Us Online

If you have found this post interesting please use the 'Share' buttons below to tell your online community about it, there's a good chance they will find it interesting too. Thank you.

Why We're Supporting The RNLI

Following on from our latest blog post about our #foodiefundraiser in aid of RNLI, we thought we would take the time to tell you a little bit more about why exactly we decided to organise this particular event in aid of the RNLI - an independent charity, funded by voluntary donations.

The Inverurie RNLI fundraising branch is one of the smaller in Scotland, but, for its size, is very successful. In the last five years, it has raised over £40,000 to support the lifeboat search and rescue service. Though this seems like a lot of money, it is a very small contribution to the cost of the service.

Keeping a modern fleet of lifeboats ever-ready to go to the rescue from 236 stations is an expensive business. Add to that crew training, running a lifeguard service on more than 180 popular beaches and campaigning for water safety, and the pounds start to add up.

It costs around £385,000 a day to run the RNLI, all of which is generously donated by the public. This might sound like a lot, but we think the 22 people rescued a day (on average) are absolutely worth it.

The RNLI volunteer crew are the backbone of the lifeboat service, physically saving lives at sea. There are more than 4,600 volunteer lifeboat crew members at stations around the UK, and another 3,000 volunteer shore crew members who support them. They are available 24/7, whatever the weather, to rescue those who need help.

Aberdeenshire has very strong connections to the sea through the local fishing industry, North Sea oil industry and the fantastic beaches we have on our doorstep.  It is very reassuring for everyone who goes to the sea, coast and inland water for work or leisure that the RNLI is close at hand with their volunteer crews to deal with any eventuality.

So, it’s easy to see why we believe this is a worthy and worthwhile cause for Mitchells Dairy, and the people of Inverurie, to support. You can’t put a price on the service the RNLI provides on a daily basis, but we feel we can try and repay some of that worth with our #foodiefundraiser.

If you want to come and support our local RNLI service, while having fun and learning a little about food and wine, then come along on Thursday 9 May between 7pm and 9pm.

Tickets for the fundraiser (in return for a suggested donation to the RNLI of just £10 per person) are available from the checkout in our shop, by phoning on 01467 621389 or emailing Judy at judy@mitchells-scotland.com.

For more information on the RNLI, why not visit their website - they have a great section on it called “Shorething” with games, activities and information for ages 7-14 years.

To keep up-to-date with what’s going on at Mitchells Dairy or the #foodiefundraiser, you can do so via our website, or through Facebook and Twitter.

Make Sure You Follow Us Online

If you have found this post interesting please use the "Share" buttons below to tell your online community about it, there's a good chance they will find it interesting too. Thank you.

Victoria Sponge raffle for Help for Heroes Colossal Cake Sale!

We always like to show our support in charity events and the Help for Heroes Colossal Cake Sale 2012 is no exception! Mitchells will be be raffling a Victoria Sponge.

The Colossal Cake Sale has grown in popularity through the years and is all about communities coming together and 'doing their bit' to raise money for an amazing cause whilst having fun at the same time.


We are proud support such a great charity and hope to raise some additional funds for the Cake Sale by raffling off one of our delicious Victoria Sponges.

Tickets can be bought in the Tearoom for £1 and all proceeds will go to Help for Heroes.  The winner will be drawn on 8 April.

For further information on the event visit www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk

If you have found this post interesting please use the "Share" buttons below to tell your online community about it, there's a good chance they will find it interesting too. Thank you.

 

You can also follow Mitchells on Facebook - please click here