How to organise a successful charity bake sale

Over the weekend I organised and ran a successful charity bake sale. We raised £275 in a little over an hour for a worthy cause. I really had no idea how to go about organising a charity bake sale, but with some help and organisation, what we did was a success.

Here’s my guide to organising a charity bake sale…

Enlist the help of keen bakers who are sympathetic to your cause.

As soon as I realised I had been put in charge of organising the bake sale I contacted a group of my friends and asked them (begged them, I actually begged them) to help. They all very, very kindly offered to bake crumbles, cakes and gingerbread men for the big day. I also asked for someone to help manage the stall during the sale and my kind friend Sarah offered her services.

Sell little bit of everything.

If you can, try to have a good variety of cakes, bakes and biscuits on sale. I baked 50 butterfly cakes which I sold for 50p each, a low-cost item will sell well, especially to children who want a little treat. Individual bakes sold well; flapjacks, brownies, buns, cupcakes and gingerbread men all disappeared quite quickly.

Try and have a range of products of different sizes and at various price points which will appeal to different people. Large crumbles and whole cakes sold well, with many people taking them home as a nice family treat. Also, don’t forget to bake some things suitable for vegans and people who are gluten-free or dairy free.

Be organised.

I’ve never done anything like this before so I knew I had to be organised. I made a list of things I’d need. Such as £20 in change as a “float”, aprons and latex gloves, kitchen towel, knives, paper plates, sandwich bags and larger plastic bags, stickers to write prices on and a couple of pens. I also bought a tablecloth, which I forgot on the day. I’m not as organised as I thought!

Ask for extra help.

Although I had my friends baking away for the sale, we asked the rest of the church to help out if they could. Several people brought along excellent cakes, tarts and crumbles. When I laid everything out it seemed like there was far too much and I’d never sell it all. How wrong I was.

How to organise a successful charity bake sale

Advertise your charity bake sale!

Spread the word. People generally love homemade cakes, especially if they’re being sold in aid of a charity or cause they support. In our case the charity bake sale was mentioned in the church newsletter and we spread the word on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Believe!

Reader, we sold the lot! Well almost everything, the very few items that were left I bought and brought home to feed my hungry hoards.

Together we raised £275 in just over an hour of sales after one church service. We had billed it as a one-off harvest festival style bake sale. I think if we ran one on a regular basis it wouldn’t be quite as popular, but we did well. We did really well. Huge thanks to everyone who baked and everyone who bought.

There’s still a long way to go before we hit the £50k target we need to raise before the end of the year, but we did our bit. We baked some cakes, raised some money and spread a bit of cakey joy throughout South Manchester.

How to organise a successful charity bake sale

Giving back this Christmas – Our Reverse Advent Box

This December we have been taking part in Reverse Advent and it’s been a very worthwhile family task. If you’ve not heard of Reverse Advent before; it’s where you take a box and each day you add something to it with the intention of giving the box away to someone in need.

I chose to donate our box to our local foodbank – Chorlton and Didsbury Foodbank. The foodbank opened in 2014 and last year gave over 1000 people and families three-day emergency food supplies.

Although we’ve never been at the point where we’ve needed to get a referral to a foodbank, there have been times when the cupboards have been bare and I’ve not had the money to buy food. There have been times where I’ve skipped meals to make sure the boys get food in their belly; and I’ve wondered how I’ll feed them their next meal. As frugal as I am, sometimes the money just doesn’t always stretch as far as I’d like.

In late November the Co-op sent me a big blue box and some ideas for my Reverse Advent. Every time I popped to the shops I’d put a few extra tins, jars, or packets of dried food in my basket and when I got home I put them in my box.

Giving back this Christmas - Our Reverse Advent box

I knew my local foodbank would appreciate getting the box of food supplies before Christmas. So I did cheat a little and over the weekend I filled my box, packed it up and it’s ready to be delivered to the foodbank in time for their Christmas party.

As a blogger we get sent a lot of things over the year, some of which we use, some of which we give away to friends and family. I’d saved a big bag of children’s books and lots of craft kits (the kind where everything you need is included, so you don’t need extra glue or paint, or things people may not have). So I’ve donated those to the foodbank too. They’ll be given to the children attending their Christmas party and I can’t think of a better home for them.

Putting the Reverse Advent box has been really easy. Buying a couple of items each time I popped to the shops was a doddle and didn’t make a huge dent in our budget. When you first get your box it can be hard to think of what you could fill it with. So I’ve put together a suggested shopping list (below) if you need some ideas to get you started…

Giving back this Christmas - Our Reverse Advent box

The Reverse Advent box is definitely something our family will be embracing as a family tradition. We know how fortunate we are to have food in the cupboards and a warm house to live in. It’s only right that we give a bit of what we can, when we can.

For more information about the Reverse Advent campaign with The Co-op read their blog. To find your nearest foodbank and to find out more about their work, or how to access their services, visit the Trussell Trust website.

Merry Christmas xx

Enjoy Britain’s Best Breakfast for The Carers Trust

The Carers Trust have launched Britain’s Best Breakfast – an annual national fundraising campaign to raise money to help support unpaid carers and give them a break from their caring role. As part of the campaign they are asking people to invite their friends and family to join them for a fundraising breakfast and raise money for Carers Trust. Everyone who signs up to get a hosting information pack before 18 October goes in the draw to win an iPad.

Today, 1 in 10 of us is a carer. That’s nearly 7 million people. So even if you aren’t a carer yourself, it’s likely you know someone who needs the support of the Carers Trust. The Carers Trust is a charity close to my heart, having been a carer myself, I know just how hard it can be physically and emotionally. Young carers in particular need additional support.

£12 could offer support through a counselling session for a carer,
giving them the chance to voice their concerns and gain reassurance.

£15 could give a young carer a few carefree hours by giving them the opportunity to take part in a range of activities from arts and crafts to sport.

£50 could go towards providing a carer with a much needed respite break. This is so important as so often carers go for months or even years without a break

£75 can save valuable time for an exhausted carer by going towards a washing machine or dishwasher – a vital piece of equipment for a carer

£120 can help a very desperate carer in need of urgent help – by contributing to a carers emergency service where swift, practical support is given in a crisis

Britain’s Biggest Breakfast sounds like a really lovely sociable thing to do anyway, and if you’re sitting down and having a little breakfast party anyway, why not raise a bit of money for the Carers Trust at the same time?

You can find out more about The Carers Trust and Britain’s Best Breakfast on their website.

Charity Challenge – How quickly can I peel an egg?

Britain's Best Breakfast

We were challenged to see how quickly we could peel the shell off an egg. I thought I’d be pretty good at this because I shell quite a lot of eggs each week. I was wrong. You can see the video of how we got on below, but as a benchmark the fastest time to shell one unpricked boiled egg is 2.66 seconds and was achieved by Silvio Sabba (Italy) in Strumica, Macedonia, on 21 August 2012. As you can see from the video it took us slightly longer than 2.66 seconds. Oh dear.

We did not egg-cel at egg shelling. Our gifts clearly lie in other areas – but we gave it a good go and had a cracking time trying. I don’t think we’d ever get our time to under three seconds anyway.

Why not set up your own little challenge at your breakfast party. Here are a few suggestions for your own charity challenge (it’s not as easy as you’d think) –

• Most toast slices buttered in one minute
• Fastest time to peel a hard-boiled egg
• Most eggs cracked with one hand in one minute

However well you get on, the great thing it you can always eat the results. Don’t forget to tweet them to let them know how you got on with your challenge, and what yummy things you’re having for your breakfast event.