FitzRoy The Maltings holds special Macmillan coffee morning

The Maltings, FitzRoy’s day and community service in Norfolk, opened their doors to friends and families for their annual Macmillan coffee morning. Nikki Newstead told us why this year was extra special.

It has been a tough time at The Maltings because Maxine, who attended the day centre for over 15 years, lost her battle to cancer.

Maxine was very popular here. Everyone who visited remembered her as she was the first one to say hello and ask if you were all right. She loved meeting people and Coca Cola. Maxine was particularly memorable in our first ever pantomime as Dick Whittington’s Cat, at first she was really nervous about going on stage in front of an audience but once she got on she loved it so much she wouldn’t come off!

Every year we run a coffee morning for Macmillan, but this year I wanted to do something special to remember Maxine. I don’t know if I’m brave or stupid, but I decided to ‘Brave the Shave’ and shave my head to raise money for Macmillan! So far I have raised over £800 and counting!

We also have the Best Baker competition, which is a big part of our coffee morning each year. People we support and staff compete and it is very serious stuff. There is a trophy for the winner and a couple of runner up prizes. This year our new Deputy Manager judged the competition in a blind taste test, before the sale got underway. The winner was a delicious banana cake. We also had a raffle with prizes kindly donated from local businesses.

The whole morning was a huge success. We had so many people we could all just about fit in the building! We’ve eaten far too much cake but raised over £200 from the cakes and the raffle, taking our total up to over £1000!”

If you would like to donate to Nikki’s ‘Brave the Shave’ click here.