Rochdale Great Children's Bake Off aims to raise funds for NSPCC

Rosie (right) and Theo (left) baking gingerbread men and cake, respectively

A new baking competition for the Rochdale borough is aiming to raise as much money as possible for the NSPCC.

The ‘Rochdale Great Children’s Bake Off’ is open to anyone in the borough with age-appropriate prizes up for grabs.

The event has been organised by Sarah Spencer, a member of Spotland Methodist Church and an active member of the community, who loves baking.

She said: “Before lockdown I was involved in a lot of different groups and fundraising, which I’ve missed. I chose the NSPCC to benefit from this because I’m a qualified level 3 teaching assistant. In school, you see instances of children who are really vulnerable and I just wanted to help.”

Bakers of all abilities and ages – not just children – are asked to be as imaginative as possible and donate £5 to the children’s charity to enter, before emailing in pictures of their creations to be judged by Sarah’s children, seven-year-old Rosie and one-year-old Theo.

Rosie and Theo will only see photos of the creations – no names or other details – to make judging as fair as possible.

Prizes have been donated from a number of independent businesses, including Brown’s Cakes, Sweet Spot, Fab Dance and Rochdale Warriors Karate.

So far £100 has been raised, with Sarah hoping for 'as much as possible' to be raised over the month-long contest.

Anyone entering must: be from the Rochdale borough, include your age range and contact details in case you win a prize, and also include a ‘magical reference word’ of your choice as proof of donation.

More information can be found on The ‘Rochdale Great Children’s Bake Off’ Facebook page and on the Rochdale Online event listing.

The competition closes on Friday 11 June at 11.59pm with the prize draw held on Sunday 13 June.