BAKE OFF TV STAR HELPS RAISE DOUGH
Great British Bake Off star Andrew Smyth has been raising dough on Wearside.
Andrew, who made it through to the final of last year’s series, joined staff at npower’s Rainton Bridge offices taking part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning fund-raiser for Mac Macmillan Cancer Support.
He took the opportunity to sample some of the staff ’s own attempts at baking and passed on some tips on the second stop in a tour of all the energy giant’s offices nationwide.
“We started off in Hull this morning and this afternoon we’re in Sunderland,” he said.
“Next week we go round all the other sites in the country, so it’s a full week but we will get to see everybody.”
Npower is holding coffee mornings across its main sites in the run-up to Macmillan’s 27th World’s Biggest Coffee Morning event next Friday.
The firm has been raising money for Macmillan for more than a decade.
“It has been 13 years now, so it really is a longrunning relationship,” said Andrew.
He has been delighted with the reaction from staff so far: “People have been very enthusiastic,” he said.
“It has been fantastic – people have really thrown themselves into it. We briefly ran out of cakes in Hull, until we were able to get a second delivery.”
The latest series of Bake Off is now under way and Andrew is enjoying the luxury of watching from afar: “When you are doing it, you are so busy just doing it that you don’t have time to think about,” he said.
“But it has been a fantastic season so far.”
The show sparked controversy when it moved from BBC One to Channel 4, with presenters Mel and Sue and baker extraordinaire Mary Berry jumping ship to be replaced by Noel Fielding, Sandi Toksvig and Prue Leith. Only Paul Hollywood remains of the original quartet.
Andrew has been impressed with the new line-up.
“I think they are really starting to get into their stride,” he said.
“People are a bit frightened of change, but now that we’re a couple of episodes in, they really are starting to gel.
“And it’s all about the bakers, at the end of the day. What they have been producing has been fantastic.”
It has been a whirlwind year for Andrew. “I have had the opportunity to get involved in so many things and support so many great causes,” he said.