IN January, 25 teams from local companies took part in the inaugural Franklins £50 Challenge to raise money for Cynthia Spencer Hospice and Willen Hospice in Buckinghamshire.
It started with a £50 donation from Franklins Solicitors LLP to each team and it was then up to the teams to take the £50 start-up money and use all their business acumen and some imagination to think up and undertake a range of fundraising activities to raise as much money as possible over an eight-week period. Some of the activities included: cake sales, raffles, quiz nights, a car wash, sales of bouquets for Valentine’s Day and pancakes for Pancake Day, plus the unusual ‘Curry in a hurry’ and slime sales. All of the teams who took on the 2018 challenge did so with gusto and this has meant a huge return for both the charities involved.
“Over the course of the challenge, it was amazing to see way the various teams really threw themselves into the challenge and the variety of fundraising activities they undertook,” said Simon Long, Managing Partner at Franklins. “There’s been a great deal of enthusiasm from all the teams to help raise money for such great causes and it’s been humbling how many people chose to be a part of this activity.”
The Challenge came to a close in March and in April a joint awards ceremony was held in order to celebrate the first Franklins £50 Challenge and the amazing fundraising of the teams involved. Sarah Canning, Partner at Franklins opened the event and John Helm from Cynthia Spencer Hospice and Amy Shaw from Willen Hospice presented the awards throughout the evening.
John Helm said: “Being part of the first Franklins £50 Challenge has been fantastic for our charity. Not only has it raised an amazing sum, which would pay for one in-patient’s care for an entire month, but it’s also shone a light on the amazing energy and passion for fundraising that exists within our local business community. We’d like to extend our sincere thanks to Franklins Solicitors LLP for sponsoring such an innovative fundraising challenge and all the teams that took part to raise money for Cynthia Spencer Hospice. We look forward to further developing the strong relationships that have been forged throughout the challenge in the future.”
The winners on the evening were:
Best Team Name: for Cynthia Spencer Hospice – Greencore with Marks & Cynthia Spencer; for Willen Hospice – LeasePlan with Where there’s a Willen there’s a way!
Most Creative Fundraising: for Cynthia Spencer Hospice – Albion Sales & Lettings with their Slime Sales; for Willen Hospice – Indigo Medical with their Curry in a Hurry activity.
Most Raised from a Single Event: for Cynthia Spencer Hospice – Greencore with James Aron’s 1000 Miles; for Willen Hospice – Handelsbanken with The Music Quiz of the Year
£50 Challenge Champions: for Cynthia Spencer Hospice – Greencore who raised £10,312.24; for Willen Hospice – Coca Cola who raised £8,157.42
Together the two charities made the final and most anticipated announcement of the evening, the fact that the Franklins £50 Challenge 2018 had raised a staggering £48,969.61. An amazing achievement that has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
With the close of the 2018 challenge, Franklins announced that it will be supporting the Franklins £50 Challenge for 2019, with both Cynthia Spencer Hospice, Willen Hospice and also MacIntyre.
If you would like to register a team for The Franklins £50 Challenge 2019 in aid of local charities: Cynthia Spencer Hospice, MacIntyre and Willen Hospice, or to find out more about what is involved, visit www.franklins-sols.co.uk/50challenge or contact Jodie Commercial on jodie.commercial@franklins-sols.co.uk or call 01908 660966.
