The Big Bake Up, a Wakefield-based organisation that delivers cooked meals for those in need, is now geared for further success as they receive big news - they are now a registered charity.
“Becoming a charity is great news,” says The Big Bake Up co-founder Melissa Woodhouse.
“We have great support to expand and are of real benefit to the public. By becoming a registered charity we are now in a position to take it further, which is exciting.”
The Big Bake Up was formed in July 2021, delivering fresh meals and baking to flood-affected people in Westport. They did the same for flood-affected Nelson residents in August 2022.
Nine months ago they began bake-ups of nutritious frozen meals to support local communities and organisations.
Since then, the team of volunteers has successfully delivered over 1100 tummy-filling meals, such as macaroni cheese and pumpkin frittata. They have also made more than 500 mouth-watering desserts like lemon cheesecake, alongside countless amounts of home baking.
“After the floods we started to have monthly bake-ups filling the freezer, and just weeks after the bake-up the freezer would be empty which reinforced to us that there was a real need for nutritious meals, so we increased our bake-ups to every fortnight,” Melissa says.
The team is proud to be supporting Age Concern Richmond and Melissa explains that it’s great to be able to provide to the elderly who are often living on their own and can’t afford to eat as nutritionally as they should be.
“Nourishing meals can give elderly people a boost of energy which helps them carry their day out,” Melissa says.
“Our meals are in many freezers around the district now including Wakefield School and Playcentre, Mainly Music Wakefield, Brightwater School and Playcentre, Brightwater Anglican Church, Pinegrove Kindergarten, Hope School, Age Concern Richmond, Plunket Nelson Tasman and Fossil Creek Farm.”
Leanne Rodman, head teacher at Pinegrove Kindergarten, says that having Big Bake Up meals on hand is valuable to their kindergarten families and the wider community.
“We have used the meals many, many times to support our community for a wide variety of reasons. We have had families who have come and asked for meals for someone they know who needs them, so the benefits are far reaching.”
The Big Bake Up team is encouraging individuals who know of someone who may benefit from a meal to reach out,
“The meals don’t have to be for yourself. If you have a friend, an aunty, or a neighbour who you think needs a hand or boost, reach out,” Melissa says.
“There’s no criteria so people getting in touch don’t need to tell us the situation; just tell us where you are located and we can go from there.”
To reach out email thebigbakeup@gmail.com or follow The Big Bake Up on Facebook.
