Business bake offs raise dough for great causes

Business centre staff and tenants joined forces to raise dough for great local causes at a series of charity cake sales.

Centre managers at our Blackburn, Burnley, Ribble Court and Group First House (Padiham) centres hosted charity cake sales in aid of Pendleside Hospice, encouraging head office staff and business centre tenants to bake or bring along a selection of tasty treats for a great cause.

The charity bake off proved to be a hit with all concerned, with a total of £623.60 raised for Pendleside Hospice across the four local centres taking part. 

The funds raised during the charity cake sales will be added to Business First's Corporate Challenge fundraising total.

Elsewhere, cake sales also took place at our Blackpool and Liverpool centres for equally worthy causes, seeing business centre tenants bake, bring, buy and enjoy sweet treats.

At Blackpool, centre manager Hannah Eastham organised a cake sale to raise money for the Silverline charity, which offers a lifeline to older people experiencing loneliness. 

The charity, founded by Dame Esther Rantzen, operates out of office space within our Blackpool business centre.

Meanwhile, our two Liverpool business centres, located off Speke Boulevard, close to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, came together to hold a charity cake sale in aid of Zoё's Place Trust.

Centre managers Jack Garriock and Adele Lyon invited business tenants and visitors from both centres to join them for coffee and cake - as with the other centre bake sales, all goods were baked, brought along and enjoyed by staff and office space tenants alike.

Zoё's Place Trust provides palliative, respite and end-of-life care to babies and infants aged from birth to five years suffering from life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. Care is given in a caring, safe, home-from-home environment known as Zoё's Place Baby Hospices. 

A total of £173.80 was raised for the Silverline and Zoё's
Place at our Blackpool and Liverpool centres.

This took our total fundraising on the day to a massive £797.40 to be donated across the three chosen charities.

All of the cake sales were popular with staff and tenants, who flocked to business centre receptions to donate £2.50 to enjoy a sweet treat and a hot drink with friends and colleagues.

Bottles of prosecco were up for grabs for the best bake at each centre - the winners were chosen by a public vote at each location. 

Business First director, Sarah Fretwell, said: "Our charity bake sales went fantastically well and it really was amazing to see our staff and tenants at different centres come together for a great cause. A huge thank you to everyone who donated, and congratulations to the best bake winners, who have each been awarded a prize for their efforts.

"We are proud to be able to support local causes to each of our centres through fundraising activity like this - it's our second year of taking part in the Pendleside Hospice Corporate Challenge and we were delighted to be able to also raise money for Silverline and Zoё's Place, which are incredible charities doing important work in our local communities."

Pendleside Hospice Corporate Challenge invites businesses from across Burnley and Pendle to go head to head to raise as much money as possible to go towards the day-to-day running of the hospice, which cares for and supports thousands of people in the area.

Please support Business First's Corporate Challenge by donating money to Pendleside Hospice online here.