Local homebuilder treat charity staff to afternoon tea

Staff at FORCE Cancer Charity in Exeter, received a selection of freshly made scones, tea and sweet treats, from local homebuilder Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter to celebrate FORCE’s scrumptious summer cream tea for cancer.

The cream tea hampers were prepared by local Devon suppliers, making it the perfect gift for a special occasion. FORCE organises this annual event, which started back in 2018 to bring people together to raise money to support their continued efforts to provide services to patients and their loved ones.

FORCE, founded in Exeter in 1987 has been providing critical face-to-face and close-to-home cancer support, outreach and information services to patients and their families across the Devon region. The work relies mostly on voluntary contributions and income from fundraising events and its charity shop in Exeter and is supported by a network of volunteers.

Cream teas for Cancer encourages individuals, groups and businesses to get involved by purchasing a hamper for just £6.

Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter regularly supports causes which have a positive impact within the local community and in recent years have donated nearly £5,000 to support the charity through their community initiative fund, Barratt Foundation and staff initiatives like a sponsored 100 mile bike ride and raffle. The homebuilder purchased 40 cream tea hampers and delivered them to FORCE’s main Information and Support Centre in Exeter, the hampers were donated as a morale boost to say thank you to the staff who work tirelessly within the community.

Olly Watts, Acting Head of Income Generations at FORCE said: “We are extremely grateful for Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter for providing us with afternoon tea, it was such a treat. Cream Teas for Cancer is an important annual event for FORCE, as it brings everyone together highlighting what FORCE does as well as improve the mental and social well-being of staff, patients and their loved ones.

“We’ve raised over £30,000 from these events since we first started which has enabled us to continue providing much-needed support to patients across Devon. The cream teas that were delivered by Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter was a great opportunity to celebrate the hard work that all the staff do for FORCE, which is usually done behind the scenes.

“This year’s afternoon tea was a great success, where over 1,600 hampers were sold to businesses, friends, families and many others, which has raised close to £13,000 in support of FORCE. As a charity, we could not achieve all that we do without the generosity and dedication of our donors, staff and volunteers.”

Nicki Reid, sales director for Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter, said: “Community is at the heart of what we do and we were delighted to donate and serve afternoon tea to the staff at FORCE, who all work incredibly hard to provide much-needed cancer support services to families across the region. We are proud to be a long-standing donor to FORCE whose work has touched the hearts of many within the Barratt community.”

Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter are building high-quality and energy efficient Homes across Devon and Cornwall. Including at Fairfax Heath in Tiverton, Victoria Heights in Alphington and Treledan in Saltash. Wherever you are in your new home journey, Barratt Homes is here to support you and offers a range of schemes including Part Exchange Guarantee and the Key Worker Deposit Contribution Scheme

If you would like to get involved with FORCE and want to know more please visit: www.forcecancercharity.co.uk  or phone 01392 402875.