Students and staff at Redcar & Cleveland College were in the pink today (Wednesday 22 October) after baking a giant cake to raise money for breast cancer research.
 
In the run up to Breast Cancer Awareness Day next week the college has been holding a variety of activities to raise awareness of breast cancer and to raise money towards research – the culmination of which was the production of a giant pink cake almost 20 metres long.
 
The cake was baked by staff from the college’s catering contractor Aramark who sponsored the event by providing the ingredients free of charge. Over 40 kilos of flour and 140 eggs were used to make the 44 sponges – representing the 44,000 people who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.
 
Students from the college’s art and design courses then added the finishing touches by icing individual designs onto the cake.
 
Francois Erasmus, who works for Aramark as the college’s catering manager oversaw the whole process. He said:
 
“The staff and students have worked really hard to produce the cake which we’re now going to sell to raise money for breast cancer research. The college’s kitchens have been a hive of activity getting all of this prepared, but it has been well worth it looking at the finished result.”
 
Chelsie Beard, aged 17, is an Art and Design student at the college. She iced a design of pink hearts onto her section of the cake. She said:
 
“Icing the cake has been really fun and it’s good to know that the money we raise from selling it is going to a really good cause. We’ve had lots of people coming over and looking at the cake all morning and I’m really looking forward to trying a slice myself!”