Kenilworth mince pie making competition in memory of Anne Chrimes

Anne Chrimes loved the town of Kenilworth and gave much of her life serving the community and charitable organisations.
Anne and Sam ChrimesAnne and Sam Chrimes
Anne and Sam Chrimes

A few months ago her husband, Sam Chrimes, paid for and organised the installation of a new defibrillator outside the King's Table cafe in the town centre in Anne's memory.

With Christmas just around the corner Sam has organised a mince pie baking competition in Anne's memory. She died earlier this year from blood cancer Myeloma on Friday February 1.

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Despite becoming ill, Anne, who was the main organiser of the town’s Poppy Appeal since 2015, with Sam's help set a new fundraising record last year raising £28,600 during the 2018 Poppy Appeal.

The keepsake card Sam Chrimes will be selling at the Mince Pie CompetitionThe keepsake card Sam Chrimes will be selling at the Mince Pie Competition
The keepsake card Sam Chrimes will be selling at the Mince Pie Competition

Sam said: “Anne was a very charitable, kind and caring person. She was a great cook who made fabulous mince pies every Christmas.

“One of Anne’s friends wanted to share Anne’s mince pie recipe as a sort of ‘momento mori,' and I suggested that instead we should sell it to raise money for Anne’s newest cause – Toilet Twinning.

“From there it didn’t take much to make it an excuse to get Anne’s friends and relatives together for a chat, laugh and do something good.”

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The mince pie competition will be held at 2pm at the Kenilworth Cricket Club on this Sunday November 17.

Anne ChrimesAnne Chrimes
Anne Chrimes

The winner will receive a certificate, a framed picture of one of the toilets that be twinned. Each person who would like to enter needs to bring four mince pies for the competition two of which will be used for the judging. The remainder will be made available for sale to raise money on the day

Sam has also been selling Anne's recipes for £2 each.

He said: “I have sold quite a number of recipes and also received some donations. I have almost enough to pay for four toilets, that’s four toilets that wouldn’t exist without this bit of fun.”

There will be tea and coffee at the fundraiser contest along with glasses of wine for a donation from The Little Minervois Wine Company.

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Anne had become quite keen on the toilet twinning charity, and as a couple they had funded the twinning of two toilets. https://www.toilettwinning.org/

Sam said: “Toilet Twinning very quickly became of interest to Anne when she heard a radio interview with a young woman from a third world country. This woman had no toilet building to go to and instead they had to find a convenient bush. It costs only £60 to provide a basic structure, but they also learn about sanitation and the importance of hand washing.”

Sam will also be selling Anne Chrimes cards as keepsakes. These cards have been designed by a friend of Anne’s and have the ingredients to Anne's mince pie recipe along with symbols and logos from many of the groups she was involved in the community.

Across the top of the cards are some of the things that mattered to Anne, a lifeboat (Royal National Lifeboat Institution RNLI), her badge for 100 blood donations, the Cornish Flag.

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The card also features the badge awarded to her when she became a Queens Guider almost 50 years ago and lastly her Poppy Appeal Organiser’s badge.

Even Sam plans to enter the contest submitting some mince pies for judging.

He said: “I've been practising and I've never cooked anything for 40 years. Actually making the pastry is a real challenge.

“I've been amazed at how many times I've done it, and it tastes different each time.”

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