A Cumbrian tea and coffee producer has raised over £5,000 to support unpaid carers in the south of the county.
Kendal firm Penningtons raised the cash with a year of fundraising activities, including producing a limited, unique blend of coffee beans – Carers Coffee.
The company made Carer Support South Lakes its charity for the year, and alongside the Carers Coffee blend, owners Gina and Dave Pennington and their team held events, hosted a table at the Carers’ Ball and donated prizes for raffles.
More than 200 bags of Carers Coffee were sold during the year, with 10 per cent of every bag sold will go to the Kenda- based charity which supports unpaid carers.
Gina selected Carer Support South Lakes after hearing about their work at the annual fundraiser ball – and used her 50th birthday celebrations to raise more funds.
Gina said: “We decided to make Carer Support South Lakes our charity for year 2023, and creating a special coffee blend just for them which meant people anywhere in the World could order a bag online and help raise funds for this hard-working, much needed local charity.
“This was the first time we have created a special blend for a charity, and it has been so successful we created another blend for the first Kendal Pride event last year, and plan to do the same again this year.”
Gina also using her 50th birthday year celebrations to raise even more money for the Kendal-based charity with sponsorship for her Manchester Marathon run, and asking for donations rather than presents who attended her 50th birthday party.
Carer Support South Lakes’ fundraising manager, Marian Graveson said: “We are so grateful to Gina, her husband Dave and their team at Penningtons for raising so much for our charity and all the events and activities they have been involved in to raise this amazing donation.
“We are very grateful to Gina for using her 50th birthday celebration to help raise funds for Carer Support South Lakes, and to all those who gave so generously.
“We are also delighted we have been trail blazers, being the first charity to have a special coffee blend created for us.
“Carer Support South Lakes is an independent, local charity and network partner of Carers Trust. We provide a range of services to support and enhance the lives of unpaid carers of all ages throughout South Lakeland. But we can only do this with the support of our sponsors, fundraisers and donations.
“This donation will help make a real difference to unpaid carers in our community.”
