Chocolate cakes raise over £1m for Syria
Melanie May | 13 June 2018 | News
Chocolate cakes sold during the month of Ramadan have raised more than £1 million for Islamic Relief’s Syria Appeal in five years.
The Cake Campaign (#Cakes4Syria) was thought up by a group of volunteers in Bradford five years ago with the chocolate fudge cakes this year being delivered to 1,000 postcodes across the country, including London, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and Birmingham. On 11 June alone, over 8,500 cakes were delivered across the country.
#Cakes4Syria delivery day 5 has been an emotional one to say the least 💙
We’ve ended up delivering over 8500 cakes up and down the country, London ran out of cakes, we had national TV coverage, and last but not least, we delivered this week’s milestone cake.
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Alhamdulillah 😇 pic.twitter.com/UdaUwm4eWj
— #Cakes4Syria (@TheCakeCampaign) June 10, 2018
The campaign has just ended for this year with the total number sold still to be announced. Last year, over 25,000 cakes were bought for £10 each, and over £1m has been raised to date through the campaign for Islamic Relief‘s Syria Appeal, with over 5,000 volunteers delivering the cakes.
Volunteers, including nurses, school teachers and students, deliver the cakes during the month of Ramadan when they themselves are fasting. The majority of customers are families who enjoy a chocolate cake as part of their Iftar meal – breaking their fast – but they have also been delivered to Members of Parliament, churches and celebrities, including Nicola Sturgeon, and the England international cricketer Moeen Ali.
Thank you @NicolaSturgeon for supporting The Cake Campaign 💙💙💙 pic.twitter.com/NorMgGaJ22
— #Cakes4Syria (@TheCakeCampaign) June 12, 2018
Imran Madden, Director of Islamic Relief UK, said:
“After seven years of conflict, Syria is suffering from the worst humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world. Islamic Relief is providing much needed aid to 4 million people, including in areas where no-one else has access. But more funds are urgently needed. The Cakes4Syria campaign has made a significant contribution to our work in Syria and we are enormously grateful to all our amazing volunteers who work hard to make this happen.”
Zia Salik, National Community Fundraising and Volunteering Manager at Islamic Relief UK, said:
“Many of our volunteers work extremely hard during the week and then use their free time to deliver their cakes often under the hot sun, while they are fasting. We are enormously proud of these awesome individuals. Cakes4Syria is a huge project with many logistical challenges and we definitely couldn’t do it without their help.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.