Hi All,
Spring here at last with lighter mornings and evenings always bringing a sense of positivity after the darker days of winter. April saw us very busy in the bakery - we were short of our bakery manager - Shaun - who underwent an operation - but pleased to report he is back at work and all is well. What with Shaun off and holiday commitments - it meant that we had to concentrate on our core production and have not been able to run any community bakes - but hope to be back to that very soon.
However - we have still managed to provide:
206 meals and drinks to those in need
100 free/pay as you feel Wednesday lunches
100 free breakfasts to local school children
Keeping our prices as low as possible every day
We are also now proud to add that we are a Real Living Wage employer - meaning the lowest hourly rate in our business is £12 for all staff. We are currently waiting our accreditation.
Other important news is that for our Crowdfunder - We have been the Aviva Cost of Living Resilience Fund - which means that for every donation made - Aviva will give us twice the amount (up to a total of £300 per individual donation) to help us deliver our social impact. We are not asking for pure donations - but you can receive rewards for our donations - from vouchers to use online - an online stottie baking course - catering vouchers - merchandise. There are also some great rewards for business / corporates. You can check it out here:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-us-to-help-other---cost-of-living-2024
Your support to us - whether liking us on Facebook - buying in our shop or online - is so important to us and to those people we support - a Big Thank you as always to all of you from all of us. I am truly humbled by the good wishes and warm feeling we receive from across the globe.
We have also now extended our online postal products to include Geordie Afternoon Tea for 2 (stottie, ham, pease pudding, scones, jam, clotted cream), Florentines and our Box of Delights (2 x caramel shortbread, 2 x brownie, 2 x rocky road) and trays of Vegan Flapjack. As always - all profits support our work.
https://bigriverbakery.myshopify.com/collections/store