Gardiner Haskins Cirencester's Charity of the Year 2019: Maggie's Cheltenham

At Gardiner Haskins we feel a great sense of responsibility to the community around us. After all, they’ve supported us for the last 40 years. Each year we choose a local charity to support with our till charity tins and are well known for supporting Wrong Trousers Day, Wear It Pink Day and Christmas Jumper Day (which usually turns into month!). This year, the charity nominated was very close to many of our hearts as they supported one of our own through her cancer diagnosis and treatment. That charity was Maggie’s Cancer Support Centre in Cheltenham. At the beginning of the year we vowed to raise more money than we ever had before and we end 2019 on an approximate donation of £4000 (including all event fundraising, merchandise sales, charity tin collections and prize donations). Thank you to every single person who’s put money in the pot, supported our events and given us words of encouragement. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Who are Maggie’s?

In May 1993 Maggie Keswick Jencks was told she had breast cancer and would only have 3 months to live. She joined an advanced chemotherapy trial and actually lived another 18 months and during that time she planned the Maggie’s centres helping people all around the UK today. Maggie believed that cancer patients needed more information as well as stress coping strategies, psychological support and the opportunity to meet other people facing the same difficulties.

Maggie was determined that people should not “lose the joy of living to the fear of dying”. In June 1995 Maggie lost her battle with cancer. However her legacy lived on as in November 1996 the first Maggie’s Centre opened.

Maggie’s Cheltenham was opened in 2010 by HRH Duchess of Cornwall. As with all Maggie’s Centres, it is designed to be a home away from home. You walk in and will be met by a lovely big kitchen table, you can help yourself to snacks and drinks as you please and there’s always a volunteer or two there if you need someone to talk to. They also run a number of courses from the centre including yoga classes and hair care after cancer. It can also be arranged for you to meet a psychologist or benefits expert if needed. Maggie’s also welcome families and friends of patients who want more information on supporting their family member or friend.

If you think Maggie’s could help you, please call them on 01242 250611

What have we done to raise money for Maggie’s?

Alongside the charity tins and prize donations we’ve ran 4 main events this year in aid of Maggie’s.

Rich’s Charity Dance Off

Richard Newman (DIY manager) was challenged by a member of staff to do a public dance and to ask for sponsorship from other staff. Rich gave a hesitant yes and Kathy got to work getting some sponsorship for him and when she had got to £200 in a matter of days Rich felt he couldn’t say no. Rich raised a massive £655 with all staff and public donations. Well done Rich!

40th Anniversary Family Fun Day

We celebrated a big anniversary this year, 40 years on Cirencester’s High Street. So we decided to have a bit of a celebration in store with a face painter, magician, some princesses and even the Easter Bunny swung by. Through various raffles, competitions and donations we raised a wonderful £1301 for Maggie’s on this day.

Festive Family Fun Day

Due to the success of our 40th Anniversary Family Fun Day and our customers positive reaction we decided to host a Festive version in December. Santa was in his grotto; Christmas music was playing and we raised £1259 for Maggie’s.

In Store Cycle Challenge

Our Bristol store challenged us to cycle the distance from London to Cirencester on static bikes in the store over a period of two weeks. We are very pleased to say we managed a staggering 400 miles between us. Our customers were very generous with their donations to our buckets and our staff had a nice healthy start to 2020. 

We couldn’t have done this without the support of our staff, customers and suppliers. Thankyou to everyone involved.