Keeping it local...with Seb Farrell

Keeping it local is a chance to meet some of the people behind coffee morning in your local area. This month we meet Seb Farrell, Fundraising Manager for East Lancashire. 

What’s your name and where do you come from?

My name is Sebastian Farrell, Seb to friends. I was born, raised and currently reside in Warrington, Cheshire; a very sociable people.  

How did you end up working for Macmillan?

I was working in the sales 'game' for BT, SKY and British Gas. But I hated it and wanted to do something positive and try to make a difference. I was also told by a friend who had already worked for Macmillan, Aimee Scally, that I’d be a great Fundraising Manager, so I went for it and was lucky enough to get the job.

What are your favourite things about your job?

I love the fact that every day is different. One minute you’re discussing estimates and budgets around a table, the next you’re on top of a windy mountain helping people raise money.

It's great telling people I work for Macmillan, as we are so well respected as a charity. So many people have been touched by cancer and been helped by Macmillan in some way or another. I also love working with the people of East Lancashire. They are so determined, funny and dedicated it makes you feel very humble.  

What do you love about coffee morning?

For what other charity event can you consume your body weight in cake and tea completely guilt free? Not many! I love the fact that coffee morning is exactly not what it says on the tin, it doesn’t have to be the biggest, involve coffee or be in the morning. It’s just people getting together having fun and raising money for people who really need it. What isn’t there to love?  

What did you do for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning this year?

I was inspired by Sarah Page’s record breaking coffee morning last year, where she attended 16 coffee mornings in a day with the Mayor of Knutsford. Myself and a key volunteer from East Lancashire approached the Mayor of Hyndburn to try and beat that record and go for 21 coffee mornings for the event’s 21st Birthday.

We over-booked as we thought some event hosts might drop out, but it being East Lancashire, no one did and on the day we managed to get to a bladder-shattering 28 different coffee mornings. It’s now almost a week later and I still haven’t slept or come out of the toilet.

We met some very inspirational people during the day and I was overwhelmed at the quality of all the coffee mornings we attended.

I have also found out this week that as well as breaking the Macmillan record, the Mayor herself also broke the record for most events attended by a Mayor in a single day and the Mayor’s Assistant also picked up a record for the same reason.

We don’t know yet how much the 28 coffee mornings managed to raise, but we have raised Macmillan’s profile considerably within the entire Lancashire area, and beyond, and it has also put a lot of smiles on a lot of different faces.  

What are you going to do next year to top that?

I doubt very much I’ll be trying to beat the record again, assuming I have actually had some sleep between now and then.

What I would like to do is encourage all the mayors in my patch to try and get to as many coffee mornings as possible, meet the people and maybe make it into a competition between the different areas, so they all get involved and support their mayor whilst raising even more money for Macmillan.

Find out more

There are lots of ways that you can get involved with Macmillan| and supporting people affected by cancer. We have fundraising opportunites|, volunteering roles| and chances to use your experience of cancer to help others.|