Is it time to rethink all the sugar related fundraising activities?

The BBC reported recently that the ‘office cake culture is a danger to health’. Prof Nigel Hunt, of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons was quoted as saying “For many people the workplace is now the primary site of their sugar intake and is contributing to the current obesity epidemic and poor oral health.”

It’s come to be a bit of a bug bear of the SCPN that so many fundraising activities, whilst done with honourable intentions, involve their contributors engaging in behaviours which may be at odds with those advised for cancer prevention e.g. coffee mornings where sweet temptations abound or tablet sales …. and who can resist tablet? And in our worksite we have the additional challenge of the bake sale for cancer research… who would not participate but are there alternatives?

We thought it might be fun to look at ways to fund raise that didn’t involve consuming sugar for your country! We have taken our suggestions from the experts – charities who have huge experience in what works to raise much needed funds (CRUK, WCRF, Nutrition Action). There are hundreds of examples to choose from so we’ve just given you a few of our favourites but we’re sure you could think of many others to assist your fundraising efforts.

• Activity based fundraisers – walk-a-thons, fun runs, football match / five a side football, obstacle course or really whatever sport you are interested in. Use it to generate some cash by charging spectators, sponsoring participants or getting businesses to sponsor the event in exchange for some good publicity.
• Pamper events – whether that be a head/beard shave, girl’s night in with beauty treatments provided by local beauticians or makeup lessons we all like to be looked after sometimes.
• Used book fair – this popular fundraiser promotes literacy while raising revenue and who hasn’t got a load of old books lying around the house. Start spring cleaning now!

This article was originally published in The SCPN Newsletter Volume 7, Issue 3. Read the newsletter below using Issuu, or feel free to download the PDF…