When organising her first Afternoon Tea Weekend back in 2018, Sue Adkins could never have imagined how huge and successful the event would become.
Fast forward five years and the annual staple has now raised a whopping £15,190 for charity, £14,290 of which has supported wards and departments across Northampton General Hospital via Northamptonshire Health Charity.
Sue’s annual Afternoon Tea Weekend has raised more than £15,000 over the last 5 years!
As always, it was such a pleasure to welcome the couple back to the hospital recently when they came in to present the funds raised from this year’s Afternoon Tea Weekend, which took place over the first weekend of July.
For 2022, they chose Talbot Butler cancer ward to support following the wonderful care their brother-in-law, Tim received while a patient about four years ago.
Tim has just recently received the all-clear which is wonderful news.
Ward Sister, Sarah Coughlan and her team were delighted to be presented with a cheque for the £5,450 that was raised this year, an amount that smashes all previous records including last year’s amazing £3,240 which was a fantastic record in itself!
Since they began in 2018, Sue’s ever-popular Afternoon Tea Weekend has thrown them some mighty challenges to overcome.
From a scorching heatwave and torrential downpours to a global pandemic and recovering from knee surgery a few weeks before – they have really faced it all and yet managed to turn things around every single year to raise more than £15,000 for great causes.
103 people enjoyed the hospitality across four sittings in Sue and Phil’s garden over the Afternoon Tea Weekend in July.
Year on year, its success grows so that for the fifth year running more teas were sold than ever, totalling 200!
It includes the now famous takeaway adopted during the pandemic – a global nightmare that Sue and family were determined wasn’t going to stop them from raising money and giving everyone the Afternoon Tea they had been looking forward to, in whatever form that had to take.
Whether it was a takeaway tea or sitting in their lovely garden for the full-on Afternoon Tea hospitality experience across the weekend for the 103 people who attended over four sittings – with some rather very strong gusts of wind on the Saturday we must add – the food was deliciously divine, as always – all home-made.
That is a whole lot of baking, cooking, sandwich making and preparing.
The work is never-ending!
A notable donation this year came from Roddas who very kindly donated 200 portions of their delicious clotted cream and 200 pots of jam to accompany the homemade scones.
Phil said,
The preparations start way back in January with e-mails and letters sent out to source raffle prizes.
We are so grateful to receive these wonderful donations, some companies have supported us every year.
Various different cakes and savouries are baked as trials throughout the first half of the year.
Discussion on sandwich fillings is ongoing for months!
As the weekend draws nearer careful planning becomes a frenzy of activity reaching a crescendo on the Friday before.
It all seems to work out, mainly because of the wonderful team we have around us.
A few days after the weekend event itself, Sue and Phil were back at it again preparing another 15 Afternoon Teas in takeaway boxes.
Their sister and brother-in-law, Dave had purchased these to surprise the staff on Talbot Butler ward as a thank you to them for the dedicated care that Dave has recently received following chemotherapy treatment.
They certainly weren’t expecting them so it made for a very nice surprise on a summer’s afternoon.
The money that Sue and her family have raised over the years has helped to make a difference to hundreds, if not soon to be thousands of patients across Northampton General Hospital.
From cutlery, other food aids and supporting staff on training courses in the Stroke Unit; to dementia-friendly Zimmer frames, retro clocks and radios and recliner chairs; from special training equipment and a laptop supporting both patients and staff in the Diabetes Centre, to a therapy and examination table providing more comfortable and enhanced care experiences as well as enabling the delivery of Reiki treatments for cancer patients in the oncology department; funds also went towards hiring the caravan that allows cancer patients the opportunity for a break away at Grove Farm Meadow near Bournemouth.
The Heart Centre, which benefitted from last year’s £3,240 donation is looking to purchase a set of special motorised therapy chairs.
These will greatly improve a patient’s experience while helping facilitate quicker recovery times following cardiology procedures.
The team on Talbot Butler are currently working on a proposal to request charity funding to develop some space outside the ward which they would like to see developed into a peaceful garden area that will provide huge benefits to their patients during a hospital stay.
This would be a wonderful way for the money raised to enhance care for cancer patients.
This year the event raised £5,450 for Talbot Butler cancer ward!
Charity Fundraiser Rob Powell said,
It has been a real privilege to get to know Sue, Phil and their lovely family as they have raised money for Northampton General over the last five years.
Every year they put their hearts and souls into making the event as special and successful as possible and even with not only all the challenges that seek to hinder them but with all of the things life in general throws their way they never fail to ensure everyone has the perfect Afternoon Tea experience.
I am so pleased that they have now raised over £15,000 after they mentioned last year that they would have liked to have hit the £10,000 mark over the five years.
Indeed, smashing their own target by a further £5,000 is an amazing achievement!
We would like to send a very big and special thank you to Sue and Phil; to their son and daughter, Rob and Emma along with their partners, Shannon and Andrew; to sisters Lesley and Caitlin and to absolutely everyone who helps with organising and hosting the event each year.
To everyone selling and buying raffle tickets; and purchasing teas – thank you all so much for making a massive difference to so many patients at Northampton General Hospital.