A leading Lake District supermarket and Lakeland charity are celebrating a hugely successful, year-long fundraising partnership. Booths Keswick staff selected The Lake District Calvert Trust as their charity partner back in Summer 2024. After 12 months of heroic efforts by the Keswick team, the final fundraising total has been revealed as £34,120.96!

The 100-strong store team undertook a hugely varied number of events and challenges in order to raise this impressive sum. From a ‘Skiddaw Sunrise’ which involved 14 colleagues ascending Skiddaw in the early hours in order to catch sunrise at the summit, to second-hand book stores, customer donations at the tills and superheroes in the aisles during Big Give week to help support the vital work of Calvert, the Booths team were tireless in their efforts.

One particular collaboration saw local award-winning food producer, Wild and Fruitful based just outside Keswick join forces with Booths Keswick to create and sell ‘The Lake District Garden Pickle’. This one of a kind, tantalisingly tasty product came with an added bonus: £1.50 from the sale of each jar went directly to The Lake District Calvert Trust to help welcome more people living with disability to the Lake District and enjoy accessible outdoor adventure.

Georgia Naylor, Fundraising Officer for the Lake District Calvert Trust commented:

“We’re incredibly grateful for the generous support from everyone at Booths. It’s helped us continue our vital work and reach even more people. Their support has helped fund our dedicated instructors, ensuring every session is safe, inclusive, and enriching for all participants. Funds over the last 12 months have also helped develop new mindfulness sessions, stable-based learning, and engaging activities for individuals of all ages and abilities. Every penny is being used to bring joy, support, and growth to those who visit us.”

Booths Keswick named the Lake District Calvert Trust as their official charity partner last year. Colleagues collectively chose the Trust as they were drawn to the charity’s vision of ‘challenging disability though outdoor adventure’. Commenting on their support for the Lake District Calvert Trust, Matt Welsh, Store Manager said:
“We have been so proud to support the Lake District Calvert Trust over the last 12 months. Calvert is a fantastic local charity helping more and more people with disabilities access the benefits of outdoor activity. We truly hope that moving forwards, other local businesses will come forward to help keep the fundraising rolling in for our friends at The Lake District Calvert Trust.”

Corporate partnerships are an incredibly important aspect of the charity’s fundraising work each year. Helen Archibald, Head of Income Generation said:

“Every charity partnership is unique and Booths has been no exception. The commitment shown by the wider Booths store team has been nothing short of exceptional. Partnering with such a high-profile and popular organisation has greatly helped raise Calvert’s profile to both locals and to visiting outdoor lovers. I’ve been extremely inspired by the conversations we’ve had with Matt and the team over the course of the year and I don’t think I will ever quite get over how quickly the pre-loved books flew out of the store doors! A huge thank you to the Booths team and indeed their thousands of customers who have so generously supported us.”

The team are keen to hear from any other local businesses considering getting involved with this much-loved, local charity into 2026 and beyond. To find out more about the work of the Lake District Calvert Trust and how businesses of all sizes can get involved, visit www.calvertlakes.org.uk/support