Human Appeal, the Manchester-based humanitarian charity, has launched a Great Charity Bake-Off, a live baking competition running in two cities this winter in aid of its Orphan Appeal.
The format invites 48 bakers in total, 24 in Manchester on 29 November and 24 in London on 20 December, to a guided bake with ingredients and professional kit provided. A place costs £50, and each baker is asked to raise £480, the charity’s figure for a year of food, shelter, healthcare and education for one orphaned child.
Two familiar faces give it a profile beyond the fundraising. Ash Baber, the self-taught baker named 2026 Content Creator of the Year at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, joins the Manchester event; Cristy Sharp, a 2023 quarter-finalist on The Great British Bake Off, takes the London one.
“Baking for me has always been about creativity and bringing people together, so it’s great to see it being used to support such an important cause,” Baber said. Samina Taj, the charity’s associate director of communications, framed it as “a fantastic opportunity to have fun, get baking and make a meaningful difference.”
It is a small, human example of a bigger truth about British food culture: baking is the country’s most reliable way of turning a hobby into a cause. The Great British Bake Off made it television, and from charity competitions to the steady churn of London food launches, the same instinct keeps finding new outlets, here turning 48 ovens into a year of support for children across 15 countries.