Plenty of customers for the Bath Abbey Bake sale. Click on images to enlarge.

Bath Abbey held another Great Bath Bake Sale on Saturday to raise over £2,000  for the church and other charities – and to honour the Great Bath Feast Festival.

The Abbey was swamped with food thanks to the generosity of community groups, businesses and school children from all around the city.

The North Aisle was packed full of stall after stall of cakes, pies, buns and savoury delights.

A chance to win a Christmas Cake.

The event was open to members of the public of all ages and offered the chance to sit and enjoy a slice of cake in one of the most architecturally inspiring and atmospheric churches in the country.

All proceeds from the Bake Sale go towards Bath Abbey’s Footprint project, plus charities Bath FareShare and Bath FoodCycle.

The event’s special guest was Alan Barrett, who has produced show-stopping cakes for London’s West End and who impressed people with his sugar craft skills – producing thirty bouquets of intricate flower arrangements.

The Virtual Museum popped in early on Saturday – to see exactly how the Abbey had added another ingredient –  a temporary one – to what makes it a ‘feast’ for the eyes!

Katie McGill, Bath Abbey’s Fundraising Administrator, said after the event: “It’s been such a fantastic day. I have been humbled by the level of support shown for the Abbey and our Footprint Project. It’s been lovely to see so many friendly faces from our local community at this year’s bake sale. This is just the boost everyone needed to take us through the final few months of fundraising for Footprint.”

We would like to say a special thank you to all the businesses who contributed their produce for our Best of Bath table: Sally Lunn’s, Made by Ben and Bickie Boo. And to our congregation and the community groups who gave not only their bakes but their time on the day: Bath Abbey Mother’s Union, Bath Spa University, University of Bath, City of Bath Bach Choir, Piano Shop Bath, Bonhams Auctioneers, Advanced Studies in England, St Andrews primary School and former Home Economics teacher Linda Turner.

Laura Brown, Footprint Appeal Director, said: “It has been incredible to open our doors to the city’s community and be flooded with this level of generosity. Since last year’s Great Bath Bake Sale, we have made a fantastic amount of progress on our Footprint Project and are now in the final months of fundraising before our next application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. If all goes well, we could start work as soon as next summer. We have come such a long way, but we need to keep pushing to get us over the next few hurdles.

Big displays of fund-raising produce.

Katie McGill, Bath Abbey’s Fundraising Administrator, said after the event: “It’s been such a fantastic day. I have been humbled by the level of support shown for the Abbey and our Footprint Project. It’s been lovely to see so many friendly faces from our local community at this year’s bake sale. This is just the boost everyone needed to take us through the final few months of fundraising for Footprint.”

We would like to say a special thank you to all the businesses who contributed their produce for our Best of Bath table: Sally Lunn’s, Made by Ben and Bickie Boo. And to our congregation and the community groups who gave not only their bakes but their time on the day: Bath Abbey Mother’s Union, Bath Spa University, University of Bath, City of Bath Bach Choir, Piano Shop Bath, Bonhams Auctioneers, Advanced Studies in England, St Andrews primary School and former Home Economics teacher Linda Turner.

Laura Brown, Footprint Appeal Director, said: “It has been incredible to open our doors to the city’s community and be flooded with this level of generosity. Since last year’s Great Bath Bake Sale, we have made a fantastic amount of progress on our Footprint Project and are now in the final months of fundraising before our next application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. If all goes well, we could start work as soon as next summer. We have come such a long way, but we need to keep pushing to get us over the next few hurdles.
All this puts a massive strain on the building – we are bursting at the seams! The floor is slowly collapsing, space is severely restricted, and the building is struggling to cope with the huge numbers of people who use the Abbey every day.

Our vision for Footprint is to maintain and make the most of what we have in order to continue inspiring all for hundreds of years to come. And what better way to bring people together in aid of this good cause, than over a slice of cake?”

For your information:

Bath Abbey needs to raise a significant amount of matched funding in order to unlock £10 million allocated by the Heritage Lottery Funding towards the Footprint Project – a £19.3 million building programme. The project will introduce an innovative eco-friendly underfloor heating system using Bath’s famous hot springs as a source of energy, as well as create 200 sq metres of additional space and improve facilities to ensure the Abbey is more hospitable and usable for the half a million people who pass through our doors every year.