The volunteers baking birthday cakes for children
The Hampshire group says it has seen a rise in demand and it needs more volunteer bakers.
The volunteers baking birthday cakes for children
Volunteers often customise cakes around a child’s favourite characters or interests.
Volunteer bakers are spending their own money so children in need do not miss out on a cake for their birthdays.
Free Cakes for Kids Fareham and Gosport purchases the ingredients, bakes the cakes and delivers them for young people whose families cannot provide one.
Natalie Parker, who joined as a baker while on maternity leave in 2024 and now leads the group, said the idea of a child not having a birthday cake was "heart-breaking".
The group, which is part of a national network, said demand has increased and it is looking for more volunteers.
Natalie Parker joined Free Cakes for Kids Fareham and Gosport while on maternity leave and now runs the group
Parker said she had seen the group promoted on Facebook and had been considering joining for some time.
"I was on maternity leave with my son and just wanted something to occupy my brain a bit, so I took the plunge," she told BBC Radio Solent.
She said her own son sometimes found it hard to understand why other children would go without.
"I can't imagine my own son not having a birthday cake. When I'm baking them, he says to me, 'Why don't they?' He can't, as a child, see why," she said.
The group does not work directly with families. Referrals come through organisations such as food banks, churches and schools.
Requests are shared in a private Facebook group where volunteers can claim them, often adapting cakes to a child's favourite characters or interests.
The volunteers buy the ingredients, bake the cakes and deliver them, while the group can only supply toppers, boards and boxes when it has raised enough money.
"It's not cheap, especially with food costs going up," Parker said.
"But it's a small price, for me and I know for our volunteers, to pay for that child getting a birthday cake that they otherwise wouldn't be able to have."
The group has more than 30 bakers, from home bakers who make one or two cakes a year to professionals with their own baking businesses.
"You don't need to be an incredible baker to join us," Parker added.