Cream Tea treat raises charity cash

A quaint English tradition has helped staff at Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH) to raise more than £350 for a local charity that helps support bereaved parents.

To mark National Cream Tea Day on Friday last week, a quiet corner of the SARH headquarters was turned into a brightly coloured tea room serving pre-packed boxes containing scones, jam, clotted cream and a traditional tea bag.

In total they managed to sell 120 boxes at £2 each and their fundraising efforts for the housing association’s adopted charity, A Child of Mine, were given a further boost with a raffle generating around £120.

So far this year, SARH has raised a massive £1,079 for the charity that was founded by local mum, Gayle Routledge, who lost her own son to a rare form of childhood cancer.

One of the organisers of the fundraiser, Nikki Oldfield, Project Surveyor at SARH commented: “National Cream Tea Day may not be very well known, but we thought it provided an idea opportunity to have a little fun and raise money for a very worthy cause.

“By the end of the morning we had sold out of our cream tea boxes – they really went down a treat!”

The contents of the boxes were donated by various businesses, including Sainsbury’s, and the Cream Tea Society. SARH contractor LC Construction also supported the traditional treat.

Jo Hough, Assistant Director of Organisational Development at SARH, added: “We would like to thank everyone who organised and supported our Cream Tea day, it really did provide us with a tea break to remember!

“In our tenth anniversary year we have a wide range of events lined up to help us raise even more for a charity that is doing so much to support many people across the area we serve.”

Pictured: Matt Hine, Jo Hough, Nikki Oldfield, Sasha Turnbull and Toby Horton