Celebrating in style with Pukka

Teaming up with long-established Leicester-based bakery Pukka, on Wednesday 13^th April, we invited over 100 local older people, many of them veterans, for a free afternoon of Pie and Mash at Loughborough Town Hall.

As part of our momentous 70^th anniversary celebrations, we hosted the event, with local service users enjoying an afternoon of delicious food and good company. Guests were treated to a tasty pie supplied by Pukka, accompanied with mash and veg which were donated by Morrisons and prepared and served up by our catering team. Following speeches from the Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Paul Baines, Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland’s Assistant Director, Troy Young and a fundraising raffle, guests also tucked into a tasty dessert of apple crumble and custard.

Volunteers from global engineering group, Meggitt and local Morrisons community champions also came along to lend a hand on the day. The idea for the event was originally sparked by the Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Paul Baines upon a visit to Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland’s Charnwood Men and Women in Shed project last November where he was inspired to present the idea of a community event to Pukka.

Located in Loughborough, the Shed provides a safe, friendly, and inclusive environment for local older men and women to share practical skills, tools and resources to work on projects of their choosing at their own pace.

Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland have grown to be the largest independent local Age UK in England. The demand for our services has grown exponentially since 1952 and we are tremendously proud of our achievements, especially during the last 2 years when we've been a lifeline for thousands of local older people.

Tony Donovan, Executive Director at Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland said: ‘We are immensely proud of our services, staff and the people of our city and counties, and with the Queen’s Platinum Anniversary coinciding with our own milestone anniversary makes this the most special of years as we can celebrate the Double Platinum. Older people in our communities are struggling more than ever – there is real hardship out there, especially with the cost of living and energy prices increasing, the future can seem bleak. Pukka have been great supporters of our charity and having that local link means that we can work together to make a real difference to local older people.”

Isaac Fisher, Managing Director at Pukka, says: “As The People’s Pie, the local community is at the heart of everything we do. That’s why we were delighted to be able to celebrate Age UK Leicester Shire and Rutland’s 70^th birthday with them, by providing our great tasting pies for guests to enjoy.”