Celebrating 50 years…
It’s hard to believe, but your favourite magazine became 50 years young last May. We have come a long way from our first leaflet to being one of the top ten best-selling women’s monthly magazines in the UK and achieving a massive £54m donated to charity.
Within our first year, Candis – which was then a football pool called the Cancer and Polio Research Fund – raised £100,000 for charity. And from that day onwards, the total money raised has increased at a rapid rate!
By January 1965 – less than three years after the company was first founded – charitable donations had topped £1m, and in 1971 the figure reached an astonishing £6m. When Candis upgraded from a simple newsletter to a magazine in November 1982, we had raised £18m for charity, and today that figure stands at a remarkable £54m!
Much of that total has been donated to health charities that have used the money in various ways – some have used it to fund medical research, others to buy life-saving equipment and pay for vital services and community projects, such as providing adults with learning disabilities the opportunity to train in a supported work place.
Click here to take a look at some of our charitable achievements.
Candis could not have achieved what it has today without the continued support of our readers. Here’s what you say…
“My husband Philip and I signed up to Candis in the 60s when it was just a sheet of paper. The fact I still read it shows how wonderful I think it is! I always do the crosswords and love the variety of magazine articles.”
June Baker, Norfolk
Candis, cake and Corrie stars…
We’ve got to know our members over the decades through our Big Days Out and Club holidays…
Our first ever day out was to the set of Coronation Street back in April 1998, so it was a fitting place to celebrate our 50th with Sally Dynevor outside the Rovers Return this month. In July 2008, we met over 4,000 readers and their families who came for a day of fun at Camelot Theme Park in Lancashire. Other memorable days out included our 40th birthday celebrations with members at Blackpool Tower in May 2002, and Flamingo Land in August 2006. We’ve also enjoyed meeting you on our affordable Club holidays. One reader, Rita Livermore from Essex, has been on over 20 Warner Breaks with husband Gordon. She says, “We’ve made such a lot of friends that we meet up with every year. And we love meeting Candis staff too.”
Super stars cover trivia
A host of famous faces have graced our covers over the years, but did you know…
* Charlotte Church is our youngest ever celebrity cover star to date. She was just 14 years old when she appeared on the cover of Candis back in May 2000.
* Dawn French and Alan Titchmarsh have appeared on the Candis cover more than any other celebrity– both have featured an impressive four times!
* Three stars of Friends have been on covers, with Jennifer Aniston in May 1997 and May 2009, Courteney Cox in April 2010 and Matthew Perry in January 2011.
