Words by Abi Scaife
Great British Bake Off star Lizzie Acker is no stranger to charity work.
Lizzie and her roommate and fellow Bake-Off star Freya Cox have donated their time, money and baking skills to charities like Dogs Trust. Meanwhile, Lizzie has also been named ambassador to Strawberry Field, a centre run by the Salvation Army to help people with learning disabilities and other barriers find employment.
“Those charities help thousands of people and giving a little bit of your time just helps people – you don't even know how many people it actually helps,” says Lizzie, who is incredibly passionate about charity and giving back to her community.
“I just think that ‘butterfly effect’ is genuinely just lovely. It makes me so happy to go to schools and see kids and I come out feeling ten times better about myself.”
"I think that butterfly effect is genuinely just lovely"
This winter, Lizzie has teamed up with Mary’s Meals, a charity supporting children in more than 20 countries by guaranteeing them one healthy meal per day at school.
Mary’s Meals has been going for 20 years now, and they are beginning to see the fruits of their labours - children who attended school for that one meal per day now getting jobs as engineers and doctors.
The charity is giving away free - yes, free - packs to people who sign up on their website designed to help you pull off the best bake sale your friends have ever seen. And don't worry if you don’t think you’re worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake - the pack comes with a free recipe book full of recipes donated by celebrities like Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley and, of course, Lizzie Acker.
“Giving back to the community just makes me happy,” admits Lizzie, “I just feel like you know, [things] come and go, but community is always gonna be there.”
Through Mary’s Meals, it only costs £15.90 to feed one child a healthy and nutritious meal every day for the whole year.
“£15.90 - that’s like … three Big Macs!” Lizzie points out (actually, it’s 4.5, but we’ll let it slide!).
“It doesn't matter if you're not a star baker like Lizzie - we're asking people just to bake some simple treats and savoury bakes,” says Dan McNally, head of grassroots engagement at Mary’s Meals. “Not just to raise money … but also to have that conversation with people about the fact that there are hungry children out there in countries where we want to give life-changing school meals.”
It's time to Raise Some Dough
The ‘Raise Some Dough’ campaign is running alongside a brand new donation match - Double the Love. Every penny raised by your bake sales will be doubled by private donations up to the tune of £1.5 million, making your impact even bigger.
“Every £15.90 someone raises from a bake sale from ‘Raise Some Dough’ will effectively feed two children as part of [Double the Love],” adds Dan. “So even small donations can save lives and bring hope to joy to children living in poverty.”
If you’re not a baker, or affording ingredients is a struggle right now, but you still want to get involved, Lizzie suggests teaming up with a group of friends and donating time and emotional support.
And if you aren’t sure how well your home baking skills will hold up to recipes created by people like Lizzie - well, she has some advice for that too.
“I would just say, half the recipe and give it a go,” says Lizzie. “Have a practice! And if you don’t want to mess around - I think mine’s got grated orange in it - just leave it out. Make it easy for yourself!”
As for what you should definitely include on your table to make your bake sale a success (other than the scrumptious treats included in the Mary’s Meals recipe book of course) - Lizzie knows what’s important.
“Baking is definitely a bit like fashion and it trends,” advises Lizzie. “So at the minute, I think everyone [loves] those cookie pies. They’ll fly off!
“Brownies are always favourites as well. You know what you could do? Spray glitter on them and put them in a bag!”
Find out more on the Mary's Meals website.
This article aligns with the UN SDGs No Poverty, Zero Hunger and Partnership for the Goals.
