Isle of Wight Girl Rises To The Occasion Baking One Thousand Cakes For Charity

Saturday, 31 October 2020 08:10

A young Islander has raised over £1,000 for Earl Mountbatten Hospice, by baking an extraordinary amount of cakes.

11-year-old Thea Ricketts, from Carisbrooke, has been getting into the Bake-Off spirit this month, taking part in the Hospice’s Challenge100 event.

The challenge asks volunteers to set themselves a task and raise £100. However, Thea wanted to take it one step further; setting out to raise more than ten times the target amount and bake over one thousand cakes – truly deserving of a handshake from Paul Hollywood.

So far, the budding baker has raised £1,018 and made 893 cakes, from cupcakes to rocky road and even some chocolate loaf cakes. The most popular choice was caramel shortbread.

Thea hopes to reach the millennium mark – just shy of 77 baker’s dozens – by next weekend.

She said:

“Every year I do Walk the Wight with my nan and I wanted to do something different as we didn’t get to do it this year.”

She added, she “loved” taking part in the challenge because: “I spent time with mumma and got to eat some cakes as well.”

With the help of mum, Gemma Ricketts, the pair listed the cakes they were making each week on Facebook and asked for requests in return for charitable donations.

They also received ingredients and donations from businesses across the Island, including The Starlight Boutique and Gems Bridalwear.

Gemma said she was “extremely proud” of her daughter:

“She’s done really well. To make almost one thousand cakes in the time we’ve had, she’s done brilliantly.

“She’s organised it all herself, written everything up, boxed everything and kept a little list of what she’s been doing.

“She’s really stepped up and taken charge of all of it, including collecting the money in and sending messages to people on Facebook thanking them for their donations. I’m super proud of her.”

The family has a close connection to the Hospice, Gemma explained:

“Historically, we have had family members who needed the hospice. More recently, we had someone quite close to the family who required it during Covid.

“It made it more prominent how important it is to the Island and how lucky we are to have it.”

The Hospice’s Challenge100 began in May and is running until the end of the year.

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Isle of Wight Girl Rises To The Occasion Baking One Thousand Cakes For Charity

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