A series of ‘Brew & Bake’ cake sales, organised by FirstGroup employees, have raised £3,600 for Prostate Cancer UK.
Staff at the transport operator supplied sweet-toothed colleagues with cupcakes, brownies and sponges, alongside hot drinks, in exchange for charitable donations.
Brew & Bake is Prostate Cancer UK’s new flagship fundraising event. It aims to bring together friends, family and colleagues, while at the same time helping to beat the most common cancer amongst men.
Events were held at FirstGroup sites across the UK, including the offices of Great Western Railway and TransPennine Express, as well as First Bus depots in Swansea, Manchester, Bradford and Essex.
Charlie French, Transport Integration Manager for TransPennine Express, said: “We’re proud to support and raise awareness for this great charity and I want to thank all those that donated to our recent bake sale. I’m thrilled to share that all royalties from ‘Felix the Railway Cat,’ a book about our very own senior pest controller from Huddersfield Railway Station will also go to Prostate Cancer UK.”
Dan Worley, Operations Manager at the First Essex depot in Hadleigh, said: “It is really good to see our staff raising awareness and funds for such a worthwhile cause; for an issue that many people just don’t talk about. All credit to the engineering team at our depot who took the time to organise the event and everyone who donated cakes and cash.”
James Beeby, Director of Fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “It was great to see so many FirstGroup employees hosting Brew & Bake sales during Valentine’s Week. As well as raising funds, this initiative will also raise awareness of a disease which affects one in eight men in the UK, and will hopefully get across an important health message.
“Our aim is to reach as many men as possible, and encourage them to take responsibility for their health. We thank the team at FirstGroup for helping us in the fight against prostate cancer.”
Prostate Cancer UK is FirstGroup’s employee-voted charity of choice. Since the partnership began in April 2015, FirstGroup has donated more than £600,000 in fundraising, donations and in-kind support.
More than 330,000 men in the UK are living with prostate cancer, with one in eight men diagnosed with the disease at some stage in their lives.
43,000 men are diagnosed with the disease every year – that's 110 fathers, husbands and brothers every day.