The Jail or Bail event was organised by East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) and saw business representatives held in custody throughout the day on Friday (16th February).
Their crimes ranged from stealing the office milk to ‘oversharing’ and they had to spend a maximum of five hours ‘behind bars’, canvassing support in order to raise £1,000 each via their JustGiving pages.
The event was a first for EACH’s corporate fundraising team and there were five business representatives at Milton, near Cambridge, four at The Nook, near Norwich, and two at The Treehouse, in Ipswich.
Those being held at Milton were Amy Starkey (Jockey Club Racecourses), Noel Byrne (Bedford Lodge Hotel & Spa), Sharon Livermore (Kameo Recruitment), Steve Elsom (Number 4 Consulting) and Paul Smith (Handelsbanken). After being arrested outside the hospice, they spent the day at nearby Milton Hall.
Ross Bangs (Landscaping by Bangs), Nicky Richardson (Center Parcs), James Melton-Royal (JMR Healthcare) and Alex Harvey (Snap IT) were kept at The Nook, with Gaynor Fisher (The New Homes Group) and Claire Yelland (Friel) behind bars at The Treehouse.
They were allowed to use their laptops and phones, to appeal for financial help, and, in total, the convicts raised more than £35,000.
“It was an enormous success, both in terms of funds and raising awareness of the work we do,” said Senior Corporate Fundraiser Billie Nugent.
“We also had great fun and our sincere thanks go to those who gave their time and got in the spirit to make our event so memorable.
“They were brilliant and couldn’t have been better sports.
“A very big thanks also to those who donated and helped them secure their bail money. To raise as much as we did was astonishing and far exceeded our expectations.”
After arriving at the hospices, the convicts were arrested, handcuffed and read their rights by real police officers.
They then booked in for the day, fingerprints were taken and they were asked to change into grey custody tracksuits.
As soon as they reached their fundraising target, the convicts were free to go.
“An extra special thank you also goes to the police forces in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk,” added Billie.
“They were wonderful – so kind and supportive, giving their time and playing along to give the morning a sense of drama.
“Overall, we couldn’t have been happier and hopefully this is this something we can repeat in the future.”
Gaynor said it was a pleasure to be involved.
“It was great fun and an honour to be part of it,” she said.
“We’ll always do whatever we can to support EACH.
“It’s such a special charity and to have played some part in raising such a fantastic amount of money makes me very proud.”
