Kettles across Norfolk will be boiling and records will be breaking as the World's Biggest Coffee Morning gets under way today. Organisers say it is going to be a record year for the event and it is hoped more than £7m will be raised for Macmillan Cancer Support across the UK.

Kettles across Norfolk will be boiling and records will be breaking as the World's Biggest Coffee Morning gets under way today.

Organisers say it is going to be a record year for the event and it is hoped more than £7m will be raised for Macmillan Cancer Support across the UK.

In Norfolk, more than 900 gatherings are taking place and organisers predict that in excess of £145,000 will be raised.

The amount is far more than in previous years, but with 104 extra venues to grab a cup of coffee, Macmillan fundraiser Helen Chapman believes it is more than achievable.

She said: "Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer. We provide practical, medical, emotional and financial support and push for better cancer care. Cancer affects us all."

At Happisburgh Primary School, school secretary Vicki Hatch has ensured that everyone will be able to tuck into a tasty treat, even those who are keeping an eye on their weight.

She has invited everyone in the village and is catering for vegetarians, vegans, people with diabetes, and, because she has invited everyone from the local slimming club, there will be a full range of WeightWatchers cakes as well.

She said: "Lots of people from the village are also baking their speciality so there will be chocolate cakes and lots of other naughty treats as well.

"My best friend's father died of cancer this year and the Macmillan nurses were fantastic.

"I wanted to be able to do something to give something back to them."

Some events are offering much more than just a cup of coffee and a sit down.

For instance, Hellesdon Library will be holding a bring-and-buy sale as well as providing tea and biscuits and the members of Acle Indoor Bowls Club are inviting everyone to bowl the morning away.

The Big Dog Ferry at Wharf Bridge, Beccles, will be offering the added excitement of a boat trip and Rachel Celik, from Bunwell Street, Norwich, who is holding a coffee morning in memory of her mum who died from cancer three years ago, will be offering jewellery-making demonstrations.

And the coffee morning will be a truly global event for a mother-and- daughter team from Stoke Ferry, near King's Lynn.

While Jean Price's coffee morning is being held at her Norfolk home, her daughter, Sarah Rogers, will be hosting a similar event thousands of miles away in Dubai. The pair hope to beat the £4,000 they raised last year.

To find a coffee morning near you, go to www.macmillan.org.uk/coffee