Record 60 Teams Sign Up for the 2025 Franklins £50 Challenge

A record number of 60 teams have signed up to take part in the Franklins £50 Challenge to raise money for 12 local charities across Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.

The Apprentice-style challenge sees each team receive £50 in seed funding from the organisers – leading legal firm Franklins Solicitors LLP. The 2025 challenge began on Monday 24 February and runs until Friday 23 May, giving participants three months to creatively turn their £50 into as much money as possible for their chosen charity.

This year’s teams come from a broad range of sectors and backgrounds – from sole traders like Mindy Robinson of SophistiCake Creations in Northampton, to large corporate teams from the likes of John Lewis & Partners. Participants represent industries such as accountancy, law, agriculture, recruitment, training, hospitality, catering, manufacturing, marketing, insurance and more.

A Tradition of Creativity and Impact

In previous years, fundraising efforts have included bake sales, raffles, retro movie nights, stone-baked pizza lunches, 12-hour bike rides, football tournaments, lawn mowing services and other inventive ideas – all geared toward making a meaningful difference in the community.

Andrea Smith, Partner at Franklins Solicitors LLP, said:

“It is inspiring to see so many teams deciding to sign up and the variety of organisations they are from, all with the same aim of bringing help and hope to local communities within Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes. With a record 12 charities set to benefit from the 2025 challenge, we are looking forward to seeing the creative ways the teams turn £50 into substantial funds which can really make a difference.”

Charities Benefiting from the 2025 Challenge

• Cynthia Spencer Hospice
• Northampton Hope Centre
• The Lewis Foundation
• Willen Hospice
• YMCA
• Shay’s Smiles
• Milton Keynes Hospital Charity
• Age UK Milton Keynes
• The Air Ambulance Service
• Arthur Ellis Mental Health Foundation
• Al’s Pals
• Rainbows Hospice

To learn more about the challenge, visit the official website: www.franklins50.co.uk.

Follow the campaign’s journey and fundraising highlights on social media:

• Facebook: Franklins Solicitors LLP
• @franklinssols on Instagram

Franklins £50 Challenge Breaks Fundraising Record with Over £35,000 Raised

We are delighted to announce that the annual Franklins £50 Challenge has set a new record, with more than £35,000 raised in this year’s Apprentice-style challenge.

Forty teams from across Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes took part in the challenge and raised a total of £35,733 for eight local charities – smashing last year’s total of £20,000. The teams received £50 seed funding from Franklins in February and had three months to turn the £50 into as much money as possible for their chosen charity.

An awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 19 June to celebrate the achievements of the teams who used their entrepreneurial skills to come up with creative ways of fundraising, including retro movie nights, stone-baked pizza lunches, 12-hour bike rides, football tournaments, lawn-mowing, bake sales, raffles and much more.

Nick Hewer, Lord Sugar’s former right-hand man and Apprentice star, presented awards to the top five fundraising teams with a team from the John Lewis Partnership in first place, raising £2,922 before Gift Aid. The top five fundraising teams also included MIXXOS Group, Travis Perkins, Amazon BHX3 Daventry and Commsave Credit Union.

Nick Hewer said:

“I was intrigued by the challenge and excited by it because it’s clever and it works! From 40 teams, £50 each, that’s a £2,000 investment and the return was extraordinary – they raised £35,000 between them for local charities. I think it’s tremendous community spirited work and I’ve got nothing but admiration for the people that turned that £50 into thousands – and for Franklins for actually driving it forward and turning it into such a success.”

Andrea Smith, Partner at Franklins Solicitors, said:

“We are so delighted that this year’s challenge has been a record-breaking year and are incredibly proud that, since it began in 2018, the Franklins £50 Challenge has now raised more than £135,000 for local charities – and that’s including a break during lockdown. At the very heart of this year’s challenge was our desire to fight hunger, fuel wellness and change local lives and we hope that the money raised for the eight local charities will bring a positive impact to people throughout Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.”

The eight charities benefitting from this year’s challenge are:

• Cynthia Spencer Hospice
• Northampton Hope Centre
• The Lewis Foundation
• Northamptonshire Community Foundation
• Willen Hospice
• MK Act
• Harry’s Rainbow
• YMCA – MK

Awards were also given for all teams raising more than £1,000 and the following categories:

• Small Business Superstar – Sophisticake Creations
• Best Community Initiative – LOL Theatre Company
• Most Creative Fundraising Idea – Aiimi
• Best Example of Teamwork – Soiltechnics
• Best Use of Social Media – Commsave Credit Union

More information about how the challenge can be found at: www.franklins50.co.uk

Teams across Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes have been putting their entrepreneurial skills to the test to raise money for eight local charities as part of the Franklins £50 Challenge.

With almost a month still to go before the challenge ends, more than £10,000 has already been in the Apprentice-style challenge and we are hopeful that the record of last year’s total of £20,000 will be broken and a new record set.

The 2024 challenge, which started in February, has seen 41 teams turn their £50 seed funding from Franklins into more money for their chosen charity. With less than four weeks to go, the race is on to be the best performing team with events taking place to raise as much money as possible including retro movie nights, six-aside football tournaments, 12-hour bike rides and abseiling down the Northampton Lift Tower.

Andrea Smith, Equity Partner at Franklins Solicitors, said:

“From bake sales to lawn mowing, raffles to make your own pizza lunches, this year’s teams have really put their entrepreneurial skills to the test and come up with so many creative ways to raise money for local charities. The aim of this year’s challenge is to fight hunger, fuel wellness and change local lives and with so much money already raised we hope to bring about positive change throughout Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.”

Since it began in 2018, the Franklins £50 Challenge has raised more than £100,000 for local charities, showcasing the potential for collective efforts to bring about meaningful transformation. The eight charities benefitting from this year’s challenge are Cynthia Spencer Hospice, the Northampton Hope Centre, The Lewis Foundation, Northamptonshire Community Foundation, Willen Hospice, MK Act, Harry’s Rainbow and YMCA – MK.

The 41 teams taking part this year are from the following organisations: Travis Perkins, Towergate Insurance, Syncro Office Technology, Piroto Labelling Ltd, Keep Moat, Chartwell Controls, OneFourSix, The Brady Creative, Commsave, Virtual Sales Team, MacIntyre Hudson, All Things Business, I Love Catering, Facilities Management Solutions, Franklins Solicitors, Soiltechnics, Hawsons Chartered Accountants, Acorn Commercial Finance, Boom 7, Laugh Out Loud Theatre Company, Metro Bank, Cottons Group, Amazon (Daventry), Delapre Abbey, House of Mystery Ltd, Nationwide Building Society, Quest Employment, Handpicked Hotels (Fawsley Hall), Sophisticake Creations, Work Buzz, John Lewis & Partners, Aiimi Ltd, Somnium Recruitment Ltd, Plumbing & Gas Solutions Ltd, Smith Jenkins Planning & Heritage and Brioche Pasquier.

More information about how the challenge works can also be found at: www.franklins50.co.uk

Mandy from the Commsave team abseiling for Cynthia Spencer Hospice