Swindon MP to judge care home ‘Bake Off'

A Swindon care home will become a bake-off battleground next week as residents, their relatives and carers compete to win the coveted crown for Alzheimer's Society Cupcake Day on Thursday 14 June.

Justin Tomlinson, MP for North Swindon, will be the head judge at the event, which is open to the public and will raise money and awareness for Alzheimer's Society.

Four teams of two, made up of a resident and family member of resident and carer, will go head to head in the culinary challenge, baking cupcakes from the same recipe and competing to win ‘best cake' and ‘best decoration'.

A cake sale will also be held with all proceeds going to Alzheimer's Society.

The fundraising event will also make a serious point about how people with dementia are best cared for and supported. Offering a variety of opportunities to interact with people from other generations and the wider community can have a hugely positive impact on their health and well being.

This has been clearly demonstrated through a series of community events at Abbey House including community lunches and visits from school children to share stories with residents as part of National Storytelling Week.

Justin Tomlinson, MP for North Swindon, said: "I am very excited indeed for cupcake day at Abbey House Care Home! Not only will it raise vital funds for Alzheimer's Society, but the bake off will bring the community into the care home. I've seen first-hand how much of a boost interacting with young people and visitors can give to older people living in a residential home, so this is a really fantastic idea. The team at Abbey House is doing fantastic work to build links in the local community and I'm honoured to be taking part - I'm looking forward to the cake too!"

Kinga Dabrowska, customer relations coordinator at Abbey House, which is run by social care charity Milestones Trust, added: "I'm not sure who is more excited about the Cupcake Day Bake Off - our residents or our staff. Inviting family members and the local community into Abbey House is hugely important to us because it helps our residents to feel part of their community and to interact with new people.

"We see a marked difference in so many of our residents when there is a buzz about the place and lots of new faces. This one has the added excitement of healthy - or perhaps unhealthy in the case of cupcakes - competition, which has already got lots of the residents talking."

The event starts at 2.30pm. Find out more about the initiative here: https://cupcakeday.alzheimers.org.uk/