Lake Avenue fun day helps to raise nearly £500 for MyWiSH Charity

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A fun day held at a shop on a housing estate in Bury St Edmunds has helped to raise nearly £500 for charity.

Mash and Arti Odedra organised the event at their Lake Avenue Stores as a way of saying “thank you” to customers who supported the couple’s business, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Manager at Lake Avenue Stores Tanya Turner and retail assistant Hollie Reed with the cheque for My WiSH. Photo: Lake Avenue Stores.
Manager at Lake Avenue Stores Tanya Turner and retail assistant Hollie Reed with the cheque for My WiSH. Photo: Lake Avenue Stores.

There were a host of activities arranged by the couple including a tombola, a magician, games, and staff-baked cakes which were sold.

The day, held on May 5th, I raised a total of £493.08 which has been donated to the My WiSH charity, which supports the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and includes the West Suffolk Hospital as well as Newmarket Hospital and community services.

Mash and Arti, who have been running the business for the past seven years, said they “had it in their minds” to run an event as the local community had supported them during the pandemic.

“During that time, it was difficult for everyone but the community stuck with us and supported us through it because they saw the efforts that we put in during Covid,” said Mash.

“It was always in our minds to do a thank you event and we had been meaning to do it for some time.

“But we had a refit to the shop last year as a way of investing into its future and the in-house Post Office which delayed things and it tied in with relaunching the store.

“We put on some special promotions for the fun day along with goodie bags and a few fun games like spin the wheel,” he said.

“On the back of that, we thought that it would be good to raise money for a local charity and we asked our followers which one to recommend and My WiSH came up trumps.

“We had some good old classic British weather, but it did not disturb the fun,” he added.

Tanya Fifield, fundraising officer for My WiSH, said: “I attended the fun day in support of Mash, Arti and their amazing team. The heavens opened up and the rain was pouring down, but it did not dampen the staff’s spirits or the customers who were still coming in and supporting the shop with their fundraising.

“They were all fabulous and we cannot thank the public enough for voting for My WiSH Charity to benefit from the day and a massive thank you to Mash, Arti and the Lake Avenue staff for hosting a fantastic event.”