OVER £10,000 RAISED FOR EACH
Throughout December 2022, as part of our Giving Tree fundraising, we committed to raising much needed funds for East Anglia's Children's Hospices.
With the help of our generous guests and Bury St Edmunds Roundtable, we raised over £10,000. This will support the charity in providing specialist care for children and young people with life threatening conditions in our region.
To support with the fundraising, £1 was added to guests bills when dining with us in December. The money raised will help fund specialist nursing care, short breaks, wellbeing activities, therapy and counselling for those families that need it most.
Furthermore, some of our elves and snowmen joined Santa's Sleigh while it toured around Risby and Barrow, finishing at The Weeping Willow to meet lots of local children to hear their Christmas wishes.
.png)
The Giving Tree story began in April 2020, when we found ourselves in the grip of a pandemic, faced with a sink or swim situation - we chose to swim.
Thanks to our incredible team and the goodwill and generosity of our local businesses and communities, we were able to undertake a number of successful not-for-profit community projects.
The largest initiative to date was cooking, packaging and delivering over 25,000 meals to NHS Hospitals, Care Homes and Hospice's in East Anglia. A worthwhile project carried out by a team of 60 Chestnut volunteers.
Other initiatives have included Miles for Meals, Cycle Safari and most recently a fundraise for East Anglian Air Ambulance.
CYCLE SAFARI
On 11th October 2022, a number of our Chestnut team embarked on an epic 500km cycle ride around all of our pubs in support of the Norfolk Community Foundation, who are funding food hubs in our region, and to continue our important fundraising efforts for The Giving Tree.
After a lot of planning (and training), fast-forward to the start line when a team of nine cyclists set off from The Carpenters Arms on a route that took them from the fenlands and fields in Cambridgeshire, to the rolling hills of Constable Country, onto the winding country roads of the Suffolk and Norfolk coasts, before finishing four days later at The Weeping Willow.
Thanks to the efforts of everyone that took part in the ride and our sponsors, Birketts, Abbeygate Wealth Management and Adnams, we were able to raise over £20,000 for our local communities to be able to access affordable, healthy food.
The money raised is incredibly helpful to the Norfolk Community Foundation, which supports over 2,000 small charitable groups, and will go towards funding additional food hubs across the county as they become increasingly in demand.
CHESTNUT AT HOME
Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are always a highlight on our hospitality calendar, unable to offer our guests the usual experience over lockdown, our team came up with a new plan - at home boxes.
The Northgate team created Valentine's boxes with their popular Afternoon Tea lovingly packed up to be enjoyed at home. For Mother's Day, The Packhorse Inn and Three Blackbirds offered a Sharing Roast in a box!
All profits were raised for the Giving Tree with the funds helping towards putting home cooked meals on the tables of local families who need support during the pandemic.
We would like to say a huge thank you to all of our guests who purchased one of our boxes and an even bigger thank you to our teams who volunteered their time and talent to producing amazing dining experiences from a box!
Over the two events, 278 orders were placed!
MILES FOR MEALS
Our Giving Tree journey continued into 2021 with a team focused challenge - Miles for Meals.
Deep in the third national lockdown our team members notched up over 10,000 miles on foot, in the saddle and on fitness mats. That is the equivalent to New York and back!
Inspired by our teams efforts, for every mile that a Chestnut team member walked, ran, skated, skipped or cycled – the Giving Tree donated one meal to a local family in need.
Our dedicated chefs fired up their stoves again to begin cooking for families in areas local to each of our pubs. Our team of volunteers worked closely with local charities and food banks, to ensure meals made their way to where they were needed the most.
In the towns and villages that surround our pubs, there were over 30,000 families living in poverty at the time of the initiative. All donations and gifts from our suppliers were received with gratitude, helping us to support our communities.
FREE MEALS FOR NHS
At the beginning of the pandemic we were moved and inspired by the incredible work of frontline NHS and care workers. Our team at Chestnut wanted to say thank you and help support their vital effort.
Thanks to the generosity and goodwill of our communities and local businesses, we raised £50,000 and donated over 25,000 free meals to frontline NHS workers, care workers and communities in need in our region.
After launching the initiative, back in April 2020, we were overwhelmed by offers of support – from individuals and businesses donating to the cause, team member volunteers giving their time to help cook and deliver, suppliers who provided free food and even Volvo providing two cars to help with the delivery efforts.
Thank you to all who made this possible.