Case Study: Breast Cancer Awareness Month & Brigit’s Bakery
Did you know that Brigit's Bakery supports charities and charitable causes and initiatives too? One of our most successful partnerships when it comes to charities is the one with the Pink Ribbon Foundation in October 2018 for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Want to find out more?
The Pink Ribbon Afternoon Tea Bus Tours October 2018
For the entire month of October 2018, Brigit's Bakery partnered with the Pink Ribbon Foundation. During this period, we donated £1 for every afternoon tea sold on our bus tour. The great news?
We raised a total of £4,265.30 for the Pink Ribbon Foundation.
Here's a photo of Brigit herself presenting our rather large cheque to the Pink Ribbon Foundation outside Brigit’s Bakery Covent Garden.
During October 2018, we asked our lovely customers to join in and wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For our part, we followed the pink theme too with pink decorations on our vintage Routemaster buses and a unique pink-themed afternoon tea. Our customers also received breast cancer pink ribbon merchandise to take home.
In our effort to fundraise for breast cancer patients, we also enabled our lovely customers to make additional donations when booking a seat on one of our tours via our online system. To raise awareness and spread the word, we used the hashtags #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth and #BCAM2018 on all our social media platforms. And we're pleased to say the whole campaign was a huge success!
If you want to get an idea of what our fab Pink October Month Bus Tours looked like, take a look at our video.
About Pink Ribbon Foundation
The Pink Ribbon Foundation (Reg. Charity No. 1080839) is a grant-making trust with a mission to fund projects and provide financial support to UK charities that relieve the needs of people who are suffering from or have been affected by breast cancer, or who work to advance the understanding of breast cancer and its early detection and treatment.
There are a large number of such charities in the UK, each as deserving as the next. Unfortunately, most charities operate on a shoestring. The Pink Ribbon Foundation, for example, has very little infrastructure and relies on the hard work of Trustees, interested parties, and Patrons, which is why initiatives like the one we ran back in October 2018 can offer great financial support.
Every year the Foundation invites charities in the UK to apply for a grant to help them continue their vital work or to fund one-off projects. Some of the many charities that have benefitted from a grant from the Pink Foundation include:The Haven. Cancerkin. Action Against Breast Cancer. Farleigh Hospice. The Primrose Centre. Cancer Research UK. Macmillan Cancer Support. Helen Rollason Cancer Charity.
Kind words about the Pink Ribbon Foundation
Here's what other organisations have to say about the Pink Ribbon Foundation and why it's so important to give them the support they need to continue with their meaningful work.
“Our ground-breaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer has seen survival rates double over the last 40 years. This would not be possible without the help of supporters such as the Pink Ribbon Foundation” – Cancer Research UK.
“We are very grateful for the support we have received from the Pink Ribbon Foundation over a number of years. It has helped make a significant difference to the provision of care and support available to people who are diagnosed with breast cancer in the Salford area each year.” – Macmillan Cancer Support, Salford Manchester.
“On behalf of nurses, patients and families we would like to thank the Pink Ribbon Foundation for their generosity in supporting this crucial service.” – Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Why a pink ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
The pink ribbon movement began as a grassroots effort in 1991 when 68-year-old Charlotte Hayley handmade peach-coloured ribbons to raise awareness about the lack of funding for cancer prevention research. She would attach her ribbons to cards that read:
“The National Cancer Institute’s annual budget is 1.8 billion US dollars, and only 5 percent goes to cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon.”
Haley distributed thousands of these cards to local people at supermarkets. She also wrote to prominent women - from former First Ladies to Dear Abby. But her message was spread mainly by word of mouth.
In 1992, the cosmetics industry got on board to promote breast cancer awareness with the help of Evelyn Lauder of Estée Lauder Cosmetics and Alexandra Penney, the editor-in-chief of Self magazine. Lauder and Penney liked Hayley’s concept of handing out ribbons. As a result, Penney decided to include a ribbon with each copy of the magazine. But because that idea turned out to be impractical, Evelyn Lauder agreed to distribute the ribbons at Estee Lauder counters in New York City stores instead. That's how the pink ribbon became the worldwide symbol to be associated with Breast Cancer Awareness.
Brigit's Bakery supports charities
2018 wasn't the only time we partnered with a charity. In October 2023, we partnered with Spread a Smile. Through this initiative, we donated 10% of all the bookings we made on World Smile Day (6th of October 2023).
If you're not familiar with them, Spread a Smile "brings joy and hope to seriously ill children in hospitals, hospices, and homes across the UK. Through in-person and virtual visits, their renowned entertainers (from magicians to face-painters and musicians to therapy dogs) generate moments of distraction and excitement, helping young patients and their families to face their significant health challenges with optimism and positivity."
The charity's commitment to spreading joy aligns seamlessly with our motto #MakeLondonSmile, so the partnership felt like a great fit. After all, it's about our mission to bring smiles to every corner of the City!
You can read more about our partnership with Spread a Smile in this blog post: We’re donating 10% of all bookings made on WORLD SMILE DAY: 6 OCT 2023.
Do you have a charity or a cause that's close to your heart? Do you think your chosen charity would work well for a themed Afternoon Tea Bus tour? Then please get in touch and let us know! We're always happy to help.
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