This leap year, the University of Edinburgh gave dedicated students the chance to make the 29th of February not only an extra-, but an extraordinary day.
Together with Great British Bake Off contestant and Edinburgh graduate Glenn Cosby, various societies used this year’s leap day to make a sweet impact – with scones, cakes and all other kinds of tasty treats in 45 different places all over campus. Raising money for various good causes, it was the bakers’ aim to break the Guinness world record for the most baked goods sold as part of a fundraiser – that is, selling 14,535 cakes within only eight hours.
What seems to be a lot at first glance… is actually a lot.
Struin, representing Edinburgh’s baking-society together with Gillian and Elsa, calculated: ‘We’d have to sell 60 baked goods per hour!’
In order to keep up with the huge amount of cake, the baking-society prepared no less than five different kinds of sweets.
‘It took my flatmate and me six hours to bake them all’, grinned Gillian while handing over a chocolate cupcake to one of many visibly excited customers gathering around the stand.
‘Everyone wants a bit of cake!’ said Struin, laughing, pointing at the crowd. In view of the empty box of sold out coconut-brownies in the middle of the table, it seemed to be a true statement.
However, the fundraisers didn’t lose sight of the main purpose of their bake-off. “Even if we don’t succeed, we’ll get to give all this money to charity. We’re giving the money to Macmillan Cancer Support,” they said.
As every society gets to choose their own charity, raised money is being given to 37 different causes. From children hospitals over pet clinics to community projects, everything is covered.
In the end, the effort has totally paid off: not only has £9,226.12 been raised, but the University of Edinburgh can proudly take the title of the world record holder for the most baked goods sold as part of a fundraiser with 18,195 sold treats. Congratulations on this amazing success!
Image: Adrian Scottow [Flickr]