Freshly baked tea cakes and sausage rolls are helping raise vital funds for a beloved hospice through a tasty year-round partnership that\u2019s just been launched.<\/p>\n
The treats are being donated by the Wrexham-based Jones Village Bakery to be sold at Caffi Cwtch, the caf\u00e9 at the city\u2019s Nightingale House Hospice, with every penny raised going to support the charity\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
Open to the public as well as patients, relatives and visitors, the caf\u00e9 plays an important role in helping the hospice generate much-needed income.<\/p>\n
The latest initiative builds on a long-standing relationship between the bakery and the hospice, creating a steady stream of income rather than just supporting individual events.<\/p>\n
Head Chef Ian Futter joined Nightingale House six months ago after a successful spell at Wrexham\u2019s award winning Lemon Tree restaurant when he won a coveted AA Rosette for culinary excellence.<\/p>\n
Before that he worked at a number of high profile eateries including the Cock O’Barton\u00a0 in Malpas and has cooked for a host of celebrities and TV chefs including Ainsley Harriot and Gary Rhodes.<\/p>\n
But according to Ian the customers at Caffi Cwtch are even more special and he loves serving up treats for them.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt\u2019s amazing working here. I really love it. It\u2019s totally different to my previous career but it\u2019s so rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a different challenge. I am looking to prepare the right food for customers and patients and providing the right dietary requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEssentially, though it\u2019s got to be really tasty food but full of the right nutrients for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe tea cakes are incredible, they are absolutely beautiful \u2013 the best I have ever tasted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes a tea cake can be quite dry but these are almost like a brioche \u2013 beautiful, soft and full of flavour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the sausage rolls are another brilliant product which are going on to our next menu which is to be launched in the next couple of weeks. I\u2019m sure they\u2019re going to be just as popular as the tea cakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they\u2019re being donated by the Village Bakery, all the proceeds go to Nightingale House. It\u2019s incredible what they are doing for us to help us get where we need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones Village Bakery Sales Manager Tracie Edwards, who also coordinates the company\u2019s community activities, said the year-round caf\u00e9 partnership reflected their determination to provide ongoing support for the hospice rather than simply backing individual fundraising events.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have supported Nightingale House for a very long time and when we came to do a tour of the hospice and saw what they do to care for people, it just pulled on everyone\u2019s heart strings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important for us to support the wonderful work that they do here because we know how much it costs to provide the care for patients and their relatives at a really difficult time in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years lots of people connected with the Village Bakery, the staff and their families, have been helped by Nightingale House.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk to anybody working for us and they all know somebody who\u2019s been here or been touched by this place. It\u2019s really special.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have found different ways of supporting the hospice like providing Welsh Cakes and sausage rolls for people taking part in the Midnight Walk fundraiser.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur supply chain coordinator Jack Davies is in the dance competition, Strictly Nightingales, and we\u2019re one of the companies featured on the hospice\u2019s Monopoly board.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProviding the tea cakes and the sausage rolls to be sold in the caf\u00e9 seemed like the perfect idea to help the hospice raise money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to find a way of supporting the hospice all year round, not just through individual fundraising events. It will provide a steady income for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Sarah Povey, the hospice\u2019s Corporate and Donor Relationship Manager, the new initiative was a major boost at a time when fundraising was becoming increasingly challenging because of the cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThis year, it will cost \u00a35.6 million to provide our services, and only around 20 per cent of that comes from statutory funding. Raising the remainder is down to our incredible corporate supporters, wonderful community, grants and trusts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as our retail shops, the caf\u00e9 is such a huge part of our fundraising efforts to ensure we provide support free of charge to our patients and keep our doors open.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly grateful to the Village Bakery, it\u2019s a very special relationship that\u2019s grown and grown over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey really see the value of what we do for the community, they are really invested and that means a lot to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTracie is just fantastic because she\u2019s been a wonderful support and is always looking at new opportunities to help us \u2013 going back to the drawing board and being creative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s harder and harder these days to raise money\u00a0 because everybody is being affected by the cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSelling the tea cakes and the sausage rolls in the caf\u00e9 is a whole new way of raising money. They are a delicious addition to the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n