Why property professionals up and down the country are putting the kettle on this September
On Friday 25 September 2026, Macmillan Cancer Support holds its biggest annual fundraising event. Coffee Morning is a straightforward idea with a significant impact: people gather for coffee and cake, charge guests something for the privilege, and donate what they raise to Macmillan. The event has been running since 1990, when it began as a small gathering before being taken national the following year. Thirty-six years on, it remains one of the most recognisable charity fundraising days in the UK calendar, bringing together communities, workplaces, and individuals around a table and a cause.

This year, Coffee Morning takes place on a Friday. For any team working from an office, that is about as accessible an opportunity to participate as the calendar offers.

What the money supports
Macmillan Cancer Support estimates that there are almost 3.5 million people living with cancer in the UK. The organisation provides practical, medical, financial, and emotional support to those people and their families, including its free support line at 0808 808 00 00, which is available seven days a week. The funds raised through Coffee Morning go toward sustaining and expanding that support. Whether it is a Macmillan nurse, a helpline volunteer, or a benefits adviser helping someone navigate their finances during treatment, the work is funded in part by events exactly like the one happening in offices and homes across the country on 25 September.

Why offices are a natural home for it
Coffee Morning comes in all shapes and sizes. Macmillan's own description covers everything from small home gatherings to large corporate events, from school fundraisers to community group gatherings. What they share is the same simple mechanism: people who would have made coffee anyway pay a little for the privilege and the money goes somewhere that genuinely matters.

A workplace Coffee Morning requires very little. A donation tin or a collection pot, some cake or biscuits, a kettle that is already on. The barrier to participation is almost non-existent, and the atmosphere it creates, a pause in the working day, people gathered around food and coffee, brief conversations that would not otherwise have happened, is consistently one that people remember.

Property offices, with their mix of colleagues, clients, and visitors moving through the door on any given Friday, are particularly well-placed. A Coffee Morning running in an office that clients visit throughout the day allows participation to extend beyond the team itself. A donation pot on the counter, a plate of cakes with a small Macmillan sign, and a brief mention to anyone who comes in is enough.

How to get involved
Signing up to host is free and takes a few minutes at macmillan.org.uk. Macmillan sends a free fundraising kit including everything needed to set up and publicise an event. For those who would rather attend than host, Macmillan's website has a search function to find Coffee Morning events near any postcode. For anyone unable to attend or host, a direct donation to Macmillan achieves the same end.

The Macmillan Support Line is available to anyone living with cancer and their loved ones: 0808 808 00 00, Monday to Sunday, 8am to 8pm.

There are few better uses of a Friday morning in September than a cup of coffee, a piece of cake, and a contribution to something that matters. The kettle is already going. This year, it might as well count.

Join us this September for Macmillan Coffee Morning