Keep Calm And Bake Cakes

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Yesterday, Emily kick-started event fundraising for South London Cares with a bake sale. Here, she explains how it went.

Everybody loves cake. I am pretty sure that's a fact. Even the healthiest of people are partial to a sweet treat; granted, maybe on the more natural, organic, sugar-free side. But at the end of the day, the only thing that beats a cup of tea is a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

So I thought it only fitting that the first fundraising I event I should hold as Income Development Coordinator for South London Cares was a bake sale. There was just one problem.

I can't bake.

Luckily, I had Hannah and Tess on hand to help me. Hannah is an especially gifted baker; she has a Kitchen Aid, copious baking books (full of tried and tested recipes) and a plethora of paraphernalia to rival any Lakeland store. So she kindly took me under her wing and we spent one afternoon whipping up an assortment of goodies.

We thought carefully about the range of cakes to make. A chocolate option - check. A gluten-free option - check. A savory option - check. It felt a little bit like a military operation, with me preparing ingredients, Hannah mixing together and us both checking nothing burnt in the oven. I learnt a lot from Hannah that afternoon and we had a lot of fun.

The following morning, we headed to the Brixton Impact Hub - where SLC are based - to get selling. The guys at the Hub were very supportive and pretty much let us set up a bakery in their kitchen area. We laid everything out and I have to admit, I was proud - surprised, even - at how delicious everything looked! But the best was yet to come. Tess arrived with a stunning Victoria Sponge and our incredible volunteer Jenny contributed a Chocolate Zebra Cake that was so good, I never wanted it to end.

Customers arrived thick and fast, and before we knew it, half our cakes had been devoured. We spent post lunch (prime cake eating time) knocking on the doors of the Lambeth Council, bringing cake to the people, who were only too happy to see us. One lady even shouted down the corridor as we left "The Lemon Drizzle cake is amazing!"

Of course, I had to taste the cake myself, so I bought about 10 slices. It's for charity, so practically guilt-free.

At the end of the day, we totted up the amount; £190 raised for South London Cares. I was delighted. Such a donation would enable us to hold a month's worth of film nights in Elephant and Castle, bringing together our older neighbours and young volunteers alike. A month's worth of friendship, all thanks to a slice of cake.

I loved holding the bake sale. It was fun, easy and tasty! Admittedly, I was a bit anxious about actually selling the cakes, but I needn't have been. One gentleman said "I was having a grey day and now you guys have come along and cheered me right up!" Well, that was really nice to be at the end of.

You too could hold a bake sale and raise funds in aid of South London Cares. We would be thrilled if you did, and would certainly come and sample your goodies! Here are just a few top tips that I learned to help you out:

- Be sure to bake a range of different cakes. Gluten-free and sugar-free options were surprisingly popular, so be sure to include those.
- Price each cake differently. Our prices ranged from 50p for a simple cake to £3 for something worthy of The Great British Bake off.
- Hold the bake sale at 'tea-breaks'; i.e. at 11am or 3pm. These are prime times when stomachs begin rumbling for something sweet!
- Make sure you have foil, plates and napkins to hand.
- Market the bake sale on Twitter and Facebook. Send emails in advance so as many people as possible know about the sale. The more the merrier!

Holding a bake sale is just one of the ways people could fundraise for South London Cares. For more ways to support the charity see our 'Donate' page or contact Emily on [email protected].