CHARITY was the winner after a fortnight of office games at creative agency Milk & Tweed resulted in £1,000 being donated to good causes.
The Chippenham agency, which specialises in website design and construction, logo and branding design and digital marketing, held its second annual fundraising marathon in celebration of National Charity Month. The games involved staff at its office in Avon Reach, remote workers at home and colleagues at its sister agency Huxley in Brighton, which it acquired earlier this year.
The idea was inspired by creative director Jake Jeffries to mark his late sister Laura’s birthday. She died three years ago aged just 41 from death from cancer. “She was an incredible woman, sister, mother, auntie and daughter and is missed by her family and friends every day,” he said.
“We started the games marathon last year in her honour so that something positive came out of the anniversary.”
Milk & Tweed staff faced off against one another in four different office games, with the winner choosing a charity to receive a £200 donation.
Social media marketing co-ordinator Alice Goulding helped put the programme together. “The first game was called Minstrel Mania and was basically a yummy version of the game of spoof but using Minstrels instead of coins. Chloe Hughes, one of our digital marketing account managers, won and chose The Brain Charity,” she said.
Miss Hughes said she chose the charity because her mum suffered a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage in 2019 and had to have an emergency operation at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital. “While it all worked out well for my mum, who has fully recovered and is living life as normal, she is one of the extremely lucky ones,” she said.
“The Brain Charity help people with all different types of neurological conditions to lead longer, healthier, happier lives. I’m thrilled to be part of a company that gives back, and I am so happy that £200 is going to such a worthy charity.”
The second game was a paper plane challenge, won by head of design Jamie Lawton. “We all had three minutes to make a paper plane and then we flew them,” said Miss Goulding. “Whoever’s plane flew the least distance was eliminated until Jamie was left.”
He said: “I chose to donate to the British Heart Foundation because charity is close to my heart as I have family members who suffer from heart conditions. It does great work to help people who suffer from similar conditions, as well as supporting their families.”
The third game was bingo and was won by Miss Goulding herself. “Professional bingo callers have little rhymes to go with each number but Jake, who was calling the numbers, kept making up his own, which was hilarious,” she said. “I chose to donate to Adventure Plus in memory of my friend who died in a climbing accident last year. It’s a great charity that organises adventure and outdoor activities and getaways for disadvantaged children.”
The final game involved staff guessing the fruit content of smoothies and was won by head of web Jon Mynette. He chose Macmillan Cancer to benefit after losing family members to cancer and said he wanted to give back to a charity helping others through the same situation.
Mr Jeffries donated an additional £200 to the Royal United Hospital in Bath, where his sister was treated. He said: “It has been a really enjoyable couple of weeks and a great opportunity for us to have fun in our lunch break, and to involve our colleagues working remotely and in Brighton as well.
“It was really good for team morale and gave us all a chance to have some fun while helping some brilliant causes.”
Find out more about the Milk & Tweed’s services at milkandtweed.com.