Staff at the Bettys Café Tea Rooms in Ilkley are celebrating their part in contributing towards the company’s record-breaking charity donation total of £100,367 – a whopping £20,000 over the sum raised last year.

Staff at Bettys in Ilkley raised £4,321 over the year for their chosen local charity, the Airedale & Wharfedale Autism Resource (AWARE), which offers support for families with autistic children. Activities undertaken by staff to raise money included a quiz night, a gourmet dinner, bingo and a Hollywood-themed event.

Jo Galasso, project manager at AWARE, said: “Our partnership with the staff at Bettys Ilkley has been fantastic. We will be using this sum to help fund a weekly youth club for young adults with autism, to give them opportunities to socialise, gain independence and develop friendships. Older members help with running the club, receiving valuable work experience.”

Bettys & Taylors community projects officer, Sarah Wells, added: “Charity fundraising is part of the life blood of Bettys & Taylors and staff from across the entire business are engaged in this work. Fundraising has a long history with us. Our first company charity of the year was to support a nurse called Mary Perkins working in war-torn Sudan and we raised £2,500. Since then, we’ve donated well over £1 million for charities, most of them here in Yorkshire.”

Bettys & Taylors matches pound for pound the amount of money raised for charity by its staff.