Volunteer bakers make sure more children have a birthday cake

A birthday cake can tell a child that someone has thought about them. In Fareham and Gosport, more than 30 volunteer bakers are making that possible for families who cannot provide one themselves.

Free Cakes for Kids receives referrals through organisations including food banks, churches and schools. Requests go into a private group, where bakers choose cakes they can take on, often decorating them around a child’s favourite character or interest.

The group’s volunteer listing says baking happens at home and basic skills are enough. It also lists an induction and training, opening the work to keen amateurs alongside professional bakers.

Rising demand puts pressure on the volunteers. Organiser Natalie Parker told the BBC that bakers currently pay for ingredients and deliver the cakes themselves; fundraising helps with boards, boxes and toppers.

Some volunteers make only one or two cakes a year. It is a manageable contribution with a clear destination: a birthday table where a child would otherwise have gone without.

Sources

• BBC — Fareham and Gosport’s volunteer bakers
• Volunteer First — the group’s baker role