Free cakes for kids in Haringey

Our friend Christine Hatt is giving kids in Haringey their just desserts....

Tottenham Community Choir members are no strangers to the pleasure of eating home-made cake, as the lengthy queues for refreshments during rehearsal breaks show. A not-for-profit community group just launched in Haringey seeks to bring that pleasure to needy children across the borough by providing personalized, home-baked birthday or other celebration cakes. The group is a branch of Free Cakes for Kids UK, a network whose origins lie in the United States, where a Georgia foster carer launched the equivalent American organization in 2007. The first UK group was established in Oxford in 2008, and the service is now provided in over 40 areas here, where more than 400 cakes have been baked.

The idea behind Free Cakes for Kids is simple. There are many children who would love to have a birthday cake made especially for them, but whose family circumstances make this difficult. Many Tottenham children, for example, live in temporary accommodation where there is no access to proper cooking facilities. Some children are young carers trying to juggle caring responsibilities with schoolwork and do not have the time to make cakes for themselves or their siblings. Some families simply cannot afford to make a special cake, or are caught up in a crisis (for example bereavement or redundancy) that leaves them with neither the inclination nor the energy to bake. In such difficult situations, the small gesture of providing a tailor-made cake can make a huge difference to a child, giving pleasure on their birthday and happy memories for the future.

Each Free Cakes for Kids group has a co-ordinator whose role is to recruit bakers and bring in referrals for suitable children and families, for example from food banks and refugee organizations. As the Haringey co-ordinator (and former TCC member), I would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in baking for the group or supporting it in any other way, for example by delivering cakes or helping with fundraising. Competent home bakers are welcome – there is no need to be a professional cook. However, all Free Cakes for Kids bakers are required to sign the organization’s hygiene and confidentiality policies, and must also be willing to buy their own ingredients and equipment. Once they have signed up, bakers are always free to turn down a referral if they do not feel able to make the type of cake requested, or if they simply do not have the time.    

Please contact me with comments, queries or offers of help via haringeyfreecakesforkids@yahoo.co.uk. 


If you would like to know more about the Free Cakes for Kids UK network in general, you can access the organisation’s website at www.freecakesforkids.org.uk.