Making a difference, One Box of Fudge at a time
Picture taken by Annie Walker Photography for my 2027 official calendar.
O hiya loves!
I’m Paul., or to some of you, you might know me as ‘The Fudge Man’.
But behind the sugar, the butter and the neatly labelled boxes is a story about community, creativity and a mission to make a difference.
This all started randomly back in November 2022.
I got injured on a fairground ride at a fireworks display, which left me with severely inflamed intercostal muscles on my left hand side.
If you’ve ever experienced this type of injury, then you know the pain is sudden, sharp and stabbing and for me, they were that swollen, you could see them through the side of my shirt.
After being triaged 3 times over the phone, over the next seven weeks and being told ibuprofen was the answer, I finally got to see a physiotherapist face to face, who took one look at me and immediately got the doctor to prescribe me naproxen and codeine.
I’ve never felt pain like it before or since and being just before Christmas, I could barely go to work and I definitely couldn’t do the Christmas shopping!
This led to me googling ‘homemade Christmas gifts’ and it was here that I discovered a Christmas fudge recipe.
A single photograph of my first successful batch on Facebook, quickly spiralled into something completely unexpected and people started to ask me if they could buy some.
I called Andy Pandy and said ‘Wouldn’t be amazing if I could make a difference one box of fudge at a time?’ and voila, the rest is history.
I realised that if I enjoyed making it, then I could use this moment for good and made a promise to myself and my community, that 100% of all profits would be donated to local causes and charities.
Since that first £50 donation to Jacob’s Well food bank, our power as a community has been unstoppable:
£28,000 and counting has been donated so far to local causes and charities.
Over 7,400 boxes of homemade fudge have been delivered locally and sold across the UK.
I’ve received a Pride of Britain Award nomination for ‘Regional Fundraiser of the Year’, back to back Gosport ‘Citizen of the Year’ nominations and also been invited to the Houses of Parliament by Dame Caroline Dinneage to celebrate my fundraising.
The Creative Universe: Music & Books
While the kitchen keeps me busy, my roots have always actually been deeply tied to the arts.
Two decades ago, I made it to the final 100 on ‘The X Factor’ with the boyband ‘F4CUS’.
I then launched my solo music career as ‘Paul Andreas’ and my tracks have since clocked up over 4.5 million global streams.
Just like the fudge, my creative work feeds back into my mission and since 2023, all proceeds from my music have been added to my fundraising pot.
I’ve also self published two recipe books, ‘One Book of Fudge’ and ‘Two Books of Fudge’ with both climbing high in the Amazon charts upon their debut.
All royalties from copies sold are also donated through One Box of Fudge.
Why support One Box of Fudge?
When you buy a box of fudge from me, you aren’t just buying a sweet treat.
You are standing with your neighbours.
Every book bought, every track streamed and every box of fudge shared, genuinely helps someone in their hour of need.
When I moved to Gosport in 2015, I didn’t know a soul.
Through this journey, I didn’t just find a hobby, I found a purpose and I found my people.
Thank you for being part of this beautiful, mad journey.
We are making a difference, One Box of Fudge at a time.