Tangent, one of the biggest women’s organisations in the UK, has adopted Re-engage as its charity of the year and so it seemed appropriate that they decided to try and break the world tea-making record. 

The attempt took place at the recent West Yorkshire show in Harrogate. Unfortunately, the 12-strong team from the National Association of Tangent Clubs fell a few cups short of breaking the record. But they did manage to catch the attention of Princess Anne, who was visiting the show that day and spoke to Tangent President Heather Parry: 

“It was a pleasure to meet Princes Anne. She walked past our set-up a couple of times so was obviously interested in what was going on. Eventually I spent a few minutes chatting to her and she was impressed by the fact we were doing this for, what she said, was a good cause – Re-engage.” 

The number to beat was 1,848, which was set in Ireland back in 2015, and the rules were very strict with pots having to brew for four-and-a-half minutes and be checked by an inspector from the food and hygiene sector. The team managed a very impressive 1,797 cups in an hour but were beaten by the clock, as Heather explains: 

“We gave it a good crack but unfortunately couldn’t quite get over the finishing line. We were undone because each batch needed a four-minute brew and that turned out to be too long.” 

The team had 12 urns, sixty tea pots and of course they used Yorkshire Tea - Yorkshire Original, Hardwater and Jam & Toast, with the cups of tea being handed out free to spectators. 

Tangent have other events in support of Re-engage planned in the future, including the President’s Lunch in September, a Ball in Bradford in February 2023, and later this month supporter John Kilshaw, and the Tangent National Secretary Sue Eyre, will take part in the Loch Tay open water challenge in Scotland.