Children bake cakes to help the homeless

TWO selfless seven-year-olds have been spending half-term raising money to buy food to help those in need.
By Neil Fatkin
Published 29th May 2019, 17:03 GMT
(L to R) Lily Farmer, 7, and Sophie Penny, 7, selling their home baked cakes to help the homeless.(L to R) Lily Farmer, 7, and Sophie Penny, 7, selling their home baked cakes to help the homeless.
(L to R) Lily Farmer, 7, and Sophie Penny, 7, selling their home baked cakes to help the homeless.

Sophie Penny and Lily Farmer, both seven, decided to run their own cake sale to purchase food and other essential items to donate to Friends of the Homeless Fareham and Gosport Basics Bank.

The girls baked 150 cakes which they sold outside the Welcome store in Cuckoo Lane, Stubbington.  

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Lily said: ‘We wanted to do something to help the homeless and decided to bake cakes to sell. Setting up the stall and selling the cakes was really fun.’

Lily and Sophie spent five hours selling the cakes and raised £144. The money was spent on purchasing food items and toiletries to donate to the charity. On Wednesday the generous girls handed over more than five bags of shopping to the Basics Bank. 

‘It felt really good to hand over the food to help the homeless people and families who need help,’ said Lily.

The initial idea came about as part of a citizenship award being run by Crofton Anne Dale Infant School where the girls attend. The thoughtful act came as no surprise to Sophie’s mum Katrina Penny.

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‘When we are in the city Sophie will ask questions about people who are homeless and will often want to buy them some food or a drink. They are so kind-hearted and have been absolutely amazing. I am really proud of them – particularly the fact it was all their own idea,’ she said.

In the last 12 months the Basics Bank has received over 2,500 referrals and given out more than 5,000 food parcels.

Chairman of the trustees Phil Rutt said: ‘We are totally dependent on donations and I can’t praise these girls enough. What they have done is brilliant and will make a real difference to the other people’s lives.’