
Because so many people love to visit us over the weekend,
I thought it would be the ideal time to test out my baking skills (!) and raise
a bit of money for Missing People.
I got my preparations done on Friday – hanging up
bunting, blowing up balloons and baking loads of tasty treats. I don’t usually
bake anything, ever, so I was a little bit nervous that not everything would
work. I hit my first hurdle when I couldn’t find the measuring jug anywhere.
Luckily boaters are a friendly bunch so a quick visit to a neighbouring boat
sorted that one out. (I made sure to thank them with some of the resultant
cake!)
I must have chosen particularly reliable recipes, because
everything turned out brilliantly. We had pistachio and cardamom brownies,
rocky road, banana and blueberry muffins, brownie muffins, peach, apricot and
almond muffins and a tea loaf. I also coated some strawberries with chocolate,
and coated some frozen bananas with chocolate and flaked almonds.
People started arriving at 11.30. A mixture of other
boaters, friends and family turned up. Even one of the local fuel boaters
stopped for tea and rocky road in the middle of delivering gas and diesel to
the boats moored two and three abreast up the towpath. There isn’t a huge
amount of space on the boat, but people crammed in where they could – on the
roof, in the bow deck, on the neighbours’ boat, on the towpath…
All the guests were keen to learn more about the work of
the charity. I was able to tell them about the range of circumstances in which
people go missing, the variety of reasons, the work we do to support families
left behind, the campaigns and lobbying we do to influence change, the 24 hour
help we can provide to young people who’ve run away and the things we can do to
help people reconnect. Some of our guests had their own experiences of missing
– either they knew someone who had been missing, or they’d run away themselves
in the past.
I had been a little nervous about asking people for
money; after all it’s not what you normally do when you have a friend round for
tea. I shouldn’t have worried though – everyone was enthusiastic and generous
in their giving. At the end of the event I was thrilled to find out that we’d
raised over £90 in total.
I really enjoyed hosting my Everything Stops for Tea
party, and would really recommend other people try it too. It’s a lovely excuse
to spend some time with friends and not only does it raise money, but it also
helps to spread the word about Missing People. Hopefully my guests will stay
involved in future, and help to spread missing person appeals as far as they
can.
You can register to host an Everything Stops for Teaparty by visiting the Missing People website – you’ll be able to download
bunting, posters, invitations, recipes and more. I hope you really enjoy
hosting your party.
Penned by Lucy Holmes
Research Manager at Missing People
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