A better end of life for all

First of all, a huge thank you for hosting your Blooming Great Virtual Tea Party. In this time of national emergency, Marie Curie Nurses and hospices are needed more than ever, and your party will help us in our vital work, caring for families affected by terminal illness.

The coronavirus outbreak has meant we’ve all had to adapt our lives, and here at Marie Curie, we’ve had to do likewise with our fundraising events. So our time-honoured Blooming Great Tea Party is now breaking new ground as a virtual tea party.

For 2020, we’re encouraging you to bring loads of lovely people together online for high tea, green tea, builders tea, work-from-home tea break… whatever your cup of tea.

This booklet is packed with top tips to get the most from your virtual tea party.

So enjoy, and thanks so much again for your support at this unprecedented time.

Katie and Bex Chief Tea Brewers

WELCOME TO

YOUR YOUR BLOOMING

GREAT

TEA PARTY

Phil Hardman/Marie Curie

The difference your tea party will make…Your Blooming Virtual Tea Party should be all about having fun and getting together online with fellow food-and-drink-lovers (whatever your cup of tea). But remember you’re also putting the “tea” in “generosity”, when we need it most. Many of our fundraising activities are on hold, so we’re facing a devastating loss of funds. That means every penny you raise at your party is more essential than ever…

£20 pays for a Marie Curie Nurse to look after someone with a terminal illness for one hour.

£70 pays for someone with a terminal illness to have day therapy at a Marie Curie Hospice, benefiting from gentle exercise, art classes and more.

£180 pays for a Marie Curie Nurse to look after someone with a terminal illness for a full nine-hour shift, in the comfort of their own home.

£400 pays for someone to stay in a Marie Curie Hospice for a full day and night, so they can receive the hands-on care they need in their final days.

Brian Morrison/Marie Curie

JustGiving it your allHowever much you raise at your party, JustGiving is the world’s leading online fundraising platform, and by far the easiest way to send us all your donations. It’s super easy to set up a page by visiting justgiving.com/mariecurie

BAKE IT

YOUR OWN What’s your cup of tea?

Each partygoer can have their cake and eat it, creating their own perfect tea party in your big online get-together – high tea, anyone? Summer iced tea? Perhaps an office tea break party, or a celebration of the nation’s favourite, the builders brew. The tea world really is your oyster.

Pick your date Our official Blooming Virtual Tea Party weekend is 18-21 June, but you can pick any date and time that works best for you and your partygoers!

Preparation is keyPick your date, plan your guest list, choose your meeting platform, set up a JustGiving page and go party!

Bake or fakeYou don’t have to be a master baker; you can be a shop-bought faker! Either way, you’ll be doing your bit to help our vital work.

Whether you bake it, fake it, brew it or stew it, your Blooming Virtual

Tea Party is whatever you want it to be. At its heart, it’s loads of lovely people coming together online for a tea party and having a good time

for a great cause.

This booklet has lots of tips and info on making your Blooming Virtual Tea Party a roaring (or should that be pouring?) success. But there’s lots more at mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty, including videocalling tips, promoting your party and fundraising at your tea party.

Phil Hardman/Marie Curie

Love a challenge? Get quizzical – your Blooming Virtual Tea Party doesn’t just have to celebrate food of the edible kind – how about some food for thought too? Use our baking quiz at mariecurie.org.uk/teapartytools or host an alternate type of quiz, and charge a donation for entry.

Bake-along – your Blooming Virtual Tea Party doesn’t have to just be about consuming the finished product; you could bake together online and watch the results in real time!

Luck of the draw – tombola or raffle, anyone? Get hold of some prizes by taking donations or approaching local businesses. Set up a spreadsheet and get those e-raffle tickets sold! Top tip: maybe try to avoid big bulky prizes you have to post, and try instead for online vouchers or gift cards.

Try something new Class acts – does your tea party have any resident experts? You could host classes and have a laugh doing them together – including baking classes of course...

Do you dare? – ask your friends and family to send you dares and film yourself carrying them out! Will you attempt a 12-layer chocolate cake, or eat a whole chilli?

Extra morsels On the download – get downloadable resources, fundraising tips and recipes at mariecurie.org.uk/teapartytools

Share a taste of your party – have fun snapping photos of your party, and don’t forget to share on social media, tagging @mariecurieuk

You could just go for a straightforward online get-

together with prodigious amounts of tea and cake. Or you could think about some ways to switch things

up a bit. Here are some of our suggestions…

This booklet has lots of tips and info on making your Blooming Virtual Tea Party a roaring (or should that be pouring?) success. But there’s lots more at mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty, including videocalling tips, promoting your party and fundraising at your tea party.

SHAKE

IT UP

Phil Hardman/Marie Curie

OK, so you’ve decided on how your Blooming Virtual Tea Party will work, but how to bring it all together online? Well, here’s a quick look at some of the software you could use to join up with your fellow partygoers. We’ve missed out FaceTime, because everyone in your party would need an Apple device to use it…

Skype One of the most well-established apps in video calling, Skype is a solid choice that you can you can use across desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile.

Facebook Messenger A group video chat on Facebook Messenger can handle up to 50 people, and displays up to six at once. Plus you get Facebook Messenger’s formidable arsenal of filters to mess about with!

ZoomZoom makes it easy for anyone to join your party via a link that you can share well in advance. It’s currently one of the most popular apps around.

Jitsi MeetThis is a totally free, open source (ie non-profit) app, which can handle up to 75 partygoers at a time.

Work-from-home tea break parties…There are lots of business-focused videoconferencing apps that are perfect if your tea party is a work-based one. These include Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business.

HousepartyAs the name suggests, Houseparty is a bit of a party in itself. You can add to your own fun and games with a series of games within the app, like quizzes and drawing.

This booklet has lots of tips and info on making your Blooming Virtual Tea Party a roaring (or should that be pouring?) success. But there’s lots more at mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty, including videocalling tips, promoting your party and fundraising at your tea party.

APPY BAKING

Phil Hardman/Marie Curie

Suzy Pelta’s

CHOCOLATE CHIP

COOKIE

CAKE

Cake ingredients

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

100g light brown sugar

1 large egg

1tsp vanilla extract

200g self-raising flour

2tsp corn flour

75g milk chocolate chips

50g white chocolate chips

Frosting and decoration ingredients

300g sifted icing sugar

150g unsalted butter

4-5 teaspoons milk

75g melted dark chocolate

Sprinkles

1 Preheat your oven to 180°C (170°C for fan ovens).

2 Grease and line a shallow 23cm round cake tin.

3 In a large bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.

4 Add in the egg, vanilla extract and a tablespoon of the self-raising flour and mix thoroughly.

5 Add in the remaining flour and corn flour and mix until you have a smooth dough.Pour in the chocolate chips and make sure they’re fully incorporated into the dough.

6 Press the dough into your cake tin and smooth the top down.

7 Bake in the centre of your oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. (Like

regular cookies, you want the middle to still be a little undercooked because it’ll continue to set after you remove it from the oven.)

8 Once baked, remove from the oven, run a knife around the edge and allow to completely cool in the tin.

9 To make the frosting, use an electric whisk or freestanding mixer to beat together the sifted icing sugar, butter and enough milk to make a smooth icing. Leave to beat for 3-5 minutes.

10 Place the cake on a cake stand and pipe or spoon the frosting around the top. Drizzle with the melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles.

This cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for three days.

Method

About SuzySuzy Pelta is Marie Curie’s Chief Cake Baker. She’s written a successful recipe book and appeared on TV and at various food shows. Her own Blooming Great Tea Parties are legendary, and are held in memory of her mother and father. Here she shares her latest chocolatey, gooey masterpiece!

This booklet has lots of tips and info on making your Blooming Virtual Tea Party a roaring (or should that be pouring?) success. But there’s lots more at mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty, including videocalling tips, promoting your party and fundraising at your tea party.

Suzy Pelta/Marie Curie Suzy Pelta/Marie Curie

Registered charity in England and Wales (207994) and Scotland (SCO38731). All rights reserved. Cover photos: Phil Harman/Marie Curie E789

YOU’RE

OURCUP OF TEA

Every penny and pound raised from your Blooming Virtual Tea Party will help us care for even more people living with a terminal illness.

So on behalf of all those people, thank you for being a tea party hero (or should that be tea-ro?)

Need help with your tea party? Call 0800 716 146, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.

teaparty@mariecurie.org.uk mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty @mariecurieuk

Hold your party and pay in your money before 31 July to be in with a chance to win this tea set, kindly donated by Emma Bridgewater.

You can also buy the mug at emmabridgewater.co.uk/mariecurie £5 from every purchase will be donated to us.