We are busy preparing for our annual Garrod Day Coffee Morning on the 25th of November. This year’s Garrod Day will be an international event, with coffee morning’s being held all over the world. In this week’s blog, you can learn some fantastic top tips on how to hold a successful coffee morning wherever you are in the world.
Planning is Key!
Coffee morning’s do not appear by themselves, unfortunately. Three simple things are needed; the venue, the date and most importantly the treats! Your venue can be varied, whether at your house, your workplace or local church or community centre, but remember to get permission first. If you can’t hold the coffee morning on the 25th of November, then you can still hold a coffee morning around this date to support AKU patients around the world. Finally, plan what you will be selling, cakes, scones, rocky road, biscuits and so much more can be on the table! Don’t forget to include drinks, such as coffee, tea and soft drinks to go with your delicious treats.
Publicity: “Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
Spreading the word is one of the most important things you can do to make sure you have attendees and awareness there at your coffee morning. Make sure to invite as many people as you can. Utilise your social media channels and shout about your upcoming coffee morning. You can create a Facebook event and use the Twitter hashtags #GarrodDay #AKUCoffee. If anyone can’t attend but still wants to donate, think about setting up a JustGiving page or Facebook Donation. Included in our Garrod Day Coffee Morning kits are AKU Society posters, to advertise when and where your coffee morning will be hosted. Email our Fundraising Officer, Juliet, juliet@akusociety.org, to order your free kit.
Safety is Important
Remember to correctly label food with any ingredients that could cause an allergic reaction. We recommend writing down ingredients your baked goods have in them and put them next to the cakes as a note. Consider looking at the Food Standards Agency Website for more advice on how to follow good practise when selling food. You don’t want any nasty surprises.
Keep the Buzz Going Afterwards
Keep the ball rolling with social media posts on the success of your coffee morning. Take lots of photos on the day, these can be used to show everyone how much fun you, your friends and family had on the day. Talk about your experiences on the day; include how much money you raised and still share your donation pages if you created them for the coffee morning. Don’t forget the AKU Society is happy to publicise your success as well, we do regular blog posts and social media posts on our fundraiser’s success.Now you have all the tools and tips to enable you to hold a coffee morning, make sure to email our Fundraising Officer, Juliet,
juliet@akusociety.org, to order a free coffee morning kit, and get more fundraising advice to continue your fundraising journey towards Garrod Day.Keep an eye out for more information on this event, including in our next Garrod Day blog, where we will have recipe ideas to inspire you on what to bake for your coffee morning. We will also be announcing more information for our patient workshop which will also be held on Garrod Day.