£10,000 donation tops year of fundraising by Norfolk property firm

Big-hearted staff at a Norfolk property firm spent a year raising funds for a cancer charity – and handed over a cheque for £10,000 as a result of their efforts.

Staff at Arnolds keys, which includes Keys Fine Art Auctioneers in Aylsham and agricultural property specialists Irelands, chose Cancer Research UK as their designated charity for 2014, and set about raising money through a range of activities throughout the year.

A Sports Challenge involving 11 other professional firms, a series of Antiques Roadshow style valuation days across the county, a charity golf day and staff bake sales were amongst the initiatives undertaken by staff to reach the £10,000 milestone.

Receiving the cheque, Tom Bamford, local fundraising manager at CRUK, said, “This is an amazing effort by staff at Arnolds Keys; we are so grateful both that they chose us as their charity for the year, and in particular for the enthusiasm and hard work which they then put in to raise such a big amount of money.

“More than one in three of us will get cancer at some point during our lives” to “More than one in three people in the UK will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime, and the work that this kind of fundraising allows CRUK to do is helping to ensure that an increasing number of them survive the disease.”

Hiedi Collis, one of the co-ordinators of Arnolds Keys’ charity effort, commented, “It is because so many of our colleagues get involved in the fundraising effort that  we have been so successful.  It just goes to show that even when you are working hard, there is always time to do something to help others.”

Cancer Research UK funds scientists, doctors and nurses to help beat cancer sooner, including supporting world-class research into the disease.  The charity receives no government funding, and is totally reliant on public donations and fundraising.

Arnolds Keys staff choose a charity to support each year.  For 2015, the chosen charity is Break, and part of that support includes sponsoring a dragon in the forthcoming GoGoDragons! event in Norwich.