Mother of two Jaz Beamsley has entered the hospital’s Big Bake Off, for which entrants raise funds for the hospital during June.
The fundraising campaign pits individuals or teams willing to pay their own way to bake up a storm, in weekly baking challenges and a quest in the final week to pull out all of the stops in a final bake.
Ms Beamsley said families with children needing specialist care should not go without support.
“They do such great work for obviously kids and families that it just felt like such a great cause to put my passion towards and also raise money for.”
She said baking had been something she had loved from a young age.
“My nan was a real keen baker. I feel like I get a lot of my baking talent from her.
“I think I’ve really been doing it since I was maybe 10.”
Her specialties included eclairs and cupcakes.
Baking brought people together and for children doing it tough in hospital, that philosophy was important too, she said.
So far 334 people around the country had entered the bake off and raised about $11,000 for the charity.
Ms Beamsley hoped to make a dent in that and had started off by asking for $250 from the community. Her fundraising page stated $25 could help fund care to sick or injured children, a $57 donation could fund a well-being pack for families and $151 could cover the cost of targeted stress-reducing care for children. She would donate her creations to her children's school, Tapanui Primary School, and Kidzway Early Learning Centre, where she used to be a relieving teacher.
Donations to Ms Beamsley’s cause can be made at https://starshipbigbakeoff.org.nz/jaz-beamsley
