It seems like a lifetime ago that news of the Covid-19 pandemic hit our screens for the first time. We’re all growing accustomed to our ‘new normal’ as we cautiously enjoy the gentle easing of the lockdown, but that’s not without unbelievable dedication and sacrifice from our incredible NHS.
Back in April we were faced with an incredibly uncertain time as a small business, but against the odds, we were completely blown away by your generous support and continued custom, so we felt it was really important do our bit for our community too. In light of this, and in support of some of our incredible key workers, we worked alongside the charity, Heroes, to give a little back.
Heroes is a charity, founded by NHS workers, for NHS workers. They exist to support the wellbeing and welfare of those who fight tirelessly to keep us healthy and safe during the Covid-19 crisis and beyond. Their services cover the everyday mental and physical needs of all NHS Heroes, from doctors and nurses to cleaners and porters.
Having decided to support Heroes, we set about deciding on our challenge. Never one to do anything by half, Head Chocolatier Al decided on a sponsored Easter egg marathon or the ’24 hour Eggathon’ as it became affectionately known. In order to raise vital funds for Heroes, Al, Char, Shelley and Sarah worked non-stop, as fast as they could in the factory for 24 solid hours. The aim of the game was to make as many Easter eggs as they possibly could, with every single egg being donated to NHS key workers as a small token of our appreciation for the hard work and compassion that they show every day, but especially in light of such a challenging climate.
On a normal day, we thought we could make about 400 eggs. So we asked all of you to sponsor our efforts and submit your guesses as to how many eggs we might produce… you did not disappoint.
Having worked through the night spinning, cooling and packing up many hundreds of eggs we eventually reached our 24 hour deadline, working nonstop. We got to 7am with Easter eggs everywhere you looked, wall to wall the factory was overrun with stacked trays of chocolate eggs, ready to treat our amazing key workers.
In fact, Al, Char, Shelley and Sarah worked so tirelessly that they could treat a huge 1826 key workers, having made more than 4 times the amount of chocolate eggs they could normally produce in a day!
Not only was that a heroic effort from the team here at The Chocolate Society, but while we worked our wonderful customers also got busy, placing incredibly generous donations to a really worthy cause. Our initial target was £500.
With your help, we raised a huge £3233 for Heroes , which will go at least some way to support the people who have supported us over the last few months, through counselling, nutritious foods and drinks, childcare, financial assistance, help with travel or even access to vital PPE.
We are, and always will be, immensely grateful for your support, but perhaps even more grateful for the opportunity to give a little something back, however we can.
Thank you for helping us, help them.
'Big thank you to #chocsoc who donated chocolate eggs to Kings College NHS key workers as an Easter treat! Took it home to share with my children who I missed loads yesterday. #stayhomesavelives'
Dr John Bladen
