The Mecca Bingo club in Chester will hold be holding a Blooming Great Tea Party in aid of the Marie Cure Cancer charity this weekend, which is part of a company wide plan to raise more than £200,000.

‘Mad Hatters’ themed Blooming Great Tea Party will be held on Saturday 19th June. During the session members will be offered drinks and cakes for a £1 which will be donated to the charity.

Bernie Dullaghan from the Mecca Club commented: “We are very excited to be holding a Blooming Great Tea Party to support our charity partnership with Marie Curie Cancer Care and hope that many of our club customers will come and join in the fun.

“The money raised from the tea party will allow more Marie Curie Nurses to provide free care to terminally ill people in their own homes.”

Siobhan Hefferman a community fundraiser for the Marie Curie added: “We are really pleased that Mecca Bingo is holding a Blooming Great Tea Party. We’re asking everyone in the community to host their own Blooming Great Tea Party for Marie Curie Cancer Care this summer.

“It’s such an easy way to get together with friends or family.”

The company, which owns Mecca Bingo, G Casinos, and Rank Interactive, has set a target of £200,000 which would be enough to fund 10,000 hours of nursing care for terminally ill patients at home. More than 8,000 employees across the group will be taking part in a variety of activities throughout the year. They will be holding events and volunteering as collectors for Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Great Daffodil Appeal in March, and taking part in the charity’s Blooming Great Tea Party campaign in June and July, as well organising their own challenges - from running marathons to waxing their legs.

A company spokesman for Mecca Bingo commented “It’s very important to us to ensure that we make a positive contribution to the communities in which we operate. Marie Curie is a fantastic cause and I'm very much looking forward to working with them over the coming year. Our employees and customers have set a great example through the work they have undertaken with Whizz-Kidz in 2008/9 and I have every confidence that we will exceed out 2010 fundraising target for Marie Curie.”

Chief Executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care, Tom Hughes-Hallett added: “We are really looking forward to working with the whole of the team at the Rank Group over the coming year.

“I’m confident that the group’s employees and customers alike will rise to this wonderful challenge for 2010, and get their friends and families involved, knowing that their efforts will help terminally ill people spend their final days in the familiar surroundings of their own homes.”

In 2009 Mecca raised a total of £516,000 for Whizz-Kidz, through the Mecca Bingo clubs and Meccabingo.com.

Marie Curie nurses provide free care to terminally ill patients in their homes, surrounded by their loved ones.