AN army of Wirral bakers are rising to the challenge to make the birthday wishes of Wirral children come true.

Free Cakes for Kids Wirral ensures children growing up in difficult circumstances have the chance blow out the candles on their birthday, something that every child deserves.

While many of us take such a simple yet special moment for granted, some families across the borough are finding it increasing difficult to make their money stretch and birthdays pass without a celebratory treat.

In October, special needs teacher Carly Hynes, from Oxton, decided enough was enough and put her baking skills to good use – providing free cakes for those in need.

“Growing up I had a large, strong family who always got together to celebrate birthdays – they are a special day of the year,” said Carly.

“Some of these children will have never celebrated a birthday before.

"For some of them it isn’t their fault, their parents cannot afford to make or buy a cake.

“Every child should celebrate their birthday and if the only thing they do is blow the candles out and eat a slice of cake, then at least they’ve had a little something personal.”

Free Cakes for Kids Wirral operates on a referral basis but any child who would not otherwise receive a birthday cake is eligible.

Families can refer themselves to receive a cake – which will be baked by Carly’s 30-strong army of volunteers – but the majority are referred by organisations such as foodbanks.

“We have no strict criteria on age,” explained Carly. “But we would suggest any child up to the age of 17. If the child or family lives outside of the Wirral area, we may still be able to help or pass their details on to another Free Cakes for Kids group.”

Although Free Cakes for Kids is a national charity, local branches are run independently across the country by people just like Carly.

She said: “I set up a Twitter and Facebook account and gained followers naturally, people very kindly volunteered their services and it has taken off from there.

“The main problem has been finding partners to refer the families to us so it’s important that people who come into contact with the families who would need our help get in touch.”

For more information, or to refer a child, call 0151 653 6455, email freecakesforkidswirral@gmail.com or find the group on Twitter @freecakeswirral or search for them on Facebook.