A GROUP of keen amateur bakers are celebrating delivering their 50th cake after 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 to 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.
The Wirral branch was set up in October 2013 by special needs teacher Carly Hynes, from Oxton, after she decided enough was enough and put her baking skills to good use.
Since then, Carly’s team of volunteers have beaten, whipped, piped and rolled out an amazing variety of different cakes for each child’s birthday.
Free Cakes for Kids Wirral operates on a referral basis but any child who would not otherwise receive a birthday cake is eligible.
“In the early days it was very difficult to make contact with services we knew were in contact with these families on a daily basis,” explained Carly.
“It took a lot of time and energy getting to speak to all of the different groups we knew could refer families to us.”
Since then, the Wirral branch of the national charity has managed to bake a whopping 50 cakes for youngsters across the borough.
Carly added: “We try to make sure each of the cakes is special and individual to the child.
“We understand there are a lot of families struggling to make ends meet currently and it’s not necessary for the children’s birthdays to be missed altogether because of a lack of money.
“A simple thing, like a cake and candles, can make a huge difference.”
Free Cakes For Kids is an entirely voluntary project, and therefore they rely completely on the hard work and contribution of the volunteers.
“Our main aim is to put a smile on the face of a child and give them a birthday to remember,” said Carly.
“There have been some touching moments over the past year, on one occasion, when delivering a cake, the eight-year-old whose birthday it was admitted he had never had a cake before. We simply cannot allow this to happen.”
The charity works through partner organisations including children’s centres, schools and young carers projects, who can recommend their service to families they know are experiencing hardship and would otherwise struggle to provide a birthday cake for their child.
Carly and some of her baking volunteers.
This helps Carly and her army of volunteers to ensure their services are reaching the people that need them most.
Carly said: “Once the referral has been passed to us by the organisation, I team a volunteer baker up with each family.
“We find out what the child’s interests are and their cake is made with their interests in mind. It is then delivered to a mutually convenient location in time for their birthday.”
Free Cakes For Kids Wirral is always looking for organisations who work with children or families to get in touch with Carly at freecakesforkidswirral@gmail.com to see how you could work together.
Pictures of the cakes made can be seen on their Facebook page “Free Cakes For Kids Wirral” or on their twitter feed @freecakeswirral.
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