Giving Back
Social enterprise, fundraising and giving back has always been an integral part of Lily’s business from the start.
“It’s always been important to me that giving back was built into the fabric of the business, and it sits alongside everything we do in the bakery – it grows as we grow”
Bake for the NHS
We have been baking for our NHS workers throughout the pandemic, sending care packages with cakes, cookies, rolls to our beloved front line workers. We sent this anyway, but enabled people to donate and top up our deliveries too.
#BakeforSyria
Conceived in 2017 originally as a fundraising event, Lily closed off Columbia Road and held the most glorious charity bake sale, featuring London’s very best bakeries and raised over £15k for children displaced by the war in Syria (donated via Unicef)
More events followed, and Lily then curated, styled and co-ordinated a book of the same name, featuring some of the worlds best bakers, chefs and bakeries (including Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver, Thomasina Miers). Each created Syrian inspired pastries & baked goods in order to raise money & awareness for UNICEF’s Syria Relief Fund.
Australia Fire Relief Fundraiser
Mayor’s fund for London
Lily is an Ambassador for the Mayor’s fund for London , which is committed to changing the social mobility narrative in London and creating and environment where all young people, regardless of background, can thrive.
In addition, 50p from every cake slice sold is donated to the Mayor’s Fund for London’s Kitchen Social Project, which provides children with a safe place to go during the holidays where they can socialise and get a healthy meal, and also helps to alleviate the financial strains on families struggling to access food an childcare.
From Beder’s Kitchen
Lily supports this charity, which is dedicated to gently raising awareness around mental health and suicide prevention. She contributed a recipe to their wonderful cookbook @frombederskitchen and to an episode of their show on Plant Eat / Amazon .
The cookbook (and all the work the charity does) seeks to normalise the conversation around these extremely difficult topics.
Use code LILY10 for a discount on the book (link to purchase)
The YBFs
Entirely non-profit, The YBFs was Founded by Amy Thorne (founder of TASTE PR), journalist Chloe Scott-Moncrieff and Lily Jones (AKA Lily Vanilli), in 2010 to spotlight and celebrate the grassroots talent of the food and drink industry – the unsung heroes who deserve to be championed.
In 2018 we introduced the Giving Back Award – led by the brilliant Danny McCubbin, Founder of San Patrignano UK and Culture Manager for Jamie Oliver Ltd, and the inspirational Thomasina Miers, who won the first ever Masterchef in 2005, co-founded restaurant group Wahaca and is a trustee of Chefs in Schools. In 2019, we were very lucky to welcome food writer, Telegraph columnist, author and all-round food expert, Xanthe Clay to the panel. This award has been set up to shine a spotlight on the people who are enriching the community through food and drink.
