A six-year-old girl who baked cakes in memory of her great-grandad, known as ‘Mr Little Thetford’, has raised hundreds of pounds for charity.
Sharon Smith and her daughter Molly decided to make their own sweet treats to remember the first Ely Hero winner Bert Russell, who died last month aged 92 in The Firs care home in Little Downham after falling ill.
Having watched an Alzheimer’s Society cupcake day advert on TV, the mother and daughter duo thought about marking the annual event, and quickly got to work.
“When we saw the Alzheimer’s cupcake advert on TV, Molly decided she would like to do that because she likes baking, so we emptied our garage and set up a stall,” Sharon said.
“A couple of people that knew grandad said as they couldn’t attend his funeral, they would donate online.
“It got to the point where he did know who we were. We were going regularly, and my daughter said ‘can we make some cakes?’”
MORE: Death of a true community champion, and winner of our first Ely Heroes award
After frantically preparing a range of cakes, from carrot and banana cake to chocolate cupcakes the night before, Sharon and Molly welcomed residents to their stall outside their Ely home on Saturday, June 13.
Residents from Ely, Littleport and Little Thetford who knew Bert, known for his dedication to his village, as well as those who didn’t know the popular grandfather came to try out the tasty items on offer
In total, the pair have raised around £750 for the Alzheimer’s Society, and have even received notes of kindness from their neighbours.
“I put it on my Facebook page that we were doing it, and a lot of people from my daughter’s school popped up, people from the village and those who knew my grandad came along,” Sharon said.
“It was heart-warming. I think a lot of people came whose parents had dementia, not just those who knew grandad. It was quite touching the amount of people that came.
“There were a lot of elderly people that came out, and we live in a predominantly elderly area. In general, a lot of elderly people had not seen anybody and came to us before the queue arrived.
“Molly would go over, pop at the door and they would leave a note through the door saying ‘thank you’.
“It went so much better than I thought.”
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