The team behind the much-loved local restaurant, Hickory’s Smokehouse, have walked, climbed and cooked their way to raise an incredible £523,582 for local children’s charity, Cash For Kids.
The team, who have two hugely popular sites in Yorkshire, located in Horbury and more recently Huddersfield, along with 15 other sites across the North West and Midlands, adopted the charity some six years ago and have been proud supporters ever since.
From the moment they kick-started their relationship back in 2017, with a series of Super-Hero days, personal challenges and seasonal support for the Charity’s well-known Mission Christmas campaign, the team committed to raising as much money as possible to help support local families from across the region.
The Hickory’s menu was updated to reflect the ongoing £1 donation for every one of their iconic ‘Campfire Marshmallow’ dessert sales, and the team voted to make regular donations from their company ‘Tip-Jar’ funds. Add to that, a whole host of events and fundraising challenges from Christmas Carol’s, to abseiling down the Trafford Centre, sponsored hikes, charity raffles and even a “Fire” walk, it’s no surprise the guys have smashed their £1/2 million target.
This added to the ongoing £1 donation for every one of their iconic ‘Campfire Marshmallow’ dessert sales, generous additions from their company ‘Tip-Jar’ funds and a whole host of events from bonfire parties, to abseiling down Anfield, Snowden challenges, Super-Hero days and even a couple of “Fire” and “Lego” walks, the guys smashed their £1/2 million target.
And they are not stopping there.
Hickory’s Managing Director John Welsh said:
“Cash For Kids do such an amazing job and there are still so many children, young people and families across our regions who rely on their support, so we are going to continue to do our bit and push our target up to £1 million!”
“We are extremely proud of our team and our guests for their unwavering support. It’s been enormously rewarding to see everyone coming together and more importantly how many children and families have been helped along the way.”
To date, the funds raised by the team at Hickory’s Smokehouse have helped hundreds of individuals, families and specialist children’s organisations across the region. In the Yorkshire region alone, the funds raised have helped support the vital work of a community group in Horbury, who support families struggling to meet essentials, along with cash grants for Our Lady of Lourdes School to help support 33 local children, Ashbrow School and Birkby Junior School to help a further 75 children.
To put this into context, this means moneys raised have helped to support over 1400 children across the region – enough to fill all 17 of the Hickory’s restaurants 3 times over, which equates to a staggering 710 school buses!
Speaking about the support they have received from Hickory’s Smokehouse, Cash for Kids Regional Charity Manager, Laura Charlton said:
“The support we have received from Hickory’s has been extraordinary. One of our most passionate corporate partners the team have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into their fundraising activities and we couldn’t be more grateful. Alongside the amazing amount of money, they have raised, they have also been active volunteers, helping us with everything from emergency meal provision, to hosting events and sending team to help us every year at our busy Mission Christmas HQ! For us, not all super-heroes wear capes, these guys wear aprons!”
Hickory’s have now pledged to step up their activity further as they head towards their new target of £1million.
“We are keeping going and pushing ourselves even further to help more children and young people,” commented John Welsh. “The cost of living crisis has hit families hard and we want to do all we can to help as many as we can, so watch this space!”
