Organising a Big Yellow Friday fundraiser at home needn’t be complicated or stressful, as John discovered a couple of years ago.
My wife, Joyce, and I had been supporters of CLDF ever since our grandson Bobby, now 15, was diagnosed with biliary atresia as a baby, and we’d always held a coffee morning on Big Yellow Friday.
Sadly, Joyce died in 2019 and the following year I faced Big Yellow Friday on my own. It wasn’t a difficult decision to join in though. CLDF is too important in our lives and Joyce and I shared a strong desire to support it. In fact, we always had a competition with Bobby’s other grandparents, who live near the family in Warwickshire, to see who could raise the most money!
Joyce had always been the driving force at these coffee mornings, allowing me to swan around playing the genial host. So I was still playing that role but kept the event simple, like me – tea, coffee cakes and a raffle. Thanks to an incredible network of friends who mucked in to help, I had over 150 raffle prizes and during the couple of hours that the event was held, more than 80 people trooped through the house and garden. The result was £1400 raised for CLDF.
I was thrilled that we’d made such a contribution to a charity which means to much to our family. To anyone who is apprehensive about hosting an event like this, I would say go for it and keep it simple. Then you’ll find you might even enjoy it!