Recipe for fundraising

FaMily recipes supplied for a school’s charity cookbook could soon be going national after it stole the show at a fundraising day.

Scotter Primary School’s ‘Not So Little’ Cookbook has been a runaway success, selling more than 180 copies since it was launched at the Macmillan coffee morning event.

It has caught the attention of committee members for the cancer charity who are now keen to advertise it on their national website.

Pupils, parents and staff raised £2,350 for Macmillan, increasing last year’s total of £1,600 by a wide margin. And they put that down to the success of the recipe book.

Administrator Denise Sutherland had the original idea for the book. She said: “I like watching the Great British Bake Off and I love cooking, so when we were looking for new fundraising ideas I thought it would be a good idea if everybody brought in a favourite recipe.”

Appeal letters went out and 120 recipes came flooding back from pupils, parents and staff.

They include Denise’s banoffee muffins, rocky road brownies from Year One teacher Peter Phillips and school governor Linda Brewster’s Aunt Olive’s chocolate cake.

Mr Phillips said: “Because they are children’s recipes, a lot of them are ‘naughty’ foods, nice sweet things that everybody enjoys. We’ve also got some old family recipes.”

He typed up the recipes and designed the book’s cover with a friend. They chose a 1920s retro look, with a big slice of chocolate cake on a striped background.

The ring-bound publication has a laminated wipe down cover and each recipe inside is illustrated and credited to whoever supplied it.

The Macmillan cancer support logo is also on every page.

Mrs Sutherland said: “It’s been a team effort, a lot of people have helped.”

Lyn Cassidy, representing the Scunthorpe Macmillan committee, went to the Scotter Primary coffee morning. She said: “The cookbook was an extremely good idea and has helped to raise a fantastic amount of money.”

“It’s the 11th year that the school has done the coffee morning for Macmillan and it’s gone from strength to strength. This money helps to train people to give cancer patients quality of life, pain-free and with some dignity in their last few weeks and months.”

“Macmillan have spoken to the children in school so they are aware of cancer, and some of them have relatives with it.”

Headteacher Elizabeth McCaffery said the book was “fabulous”.

She said: “It’s fantastic for the children to be able to see their names and their contributions.”

“It was a really good fundraiser, our best ever.”

The coffee morning also featured a cake made by parent and teaching assistant Jo Mycroft which was raffled.

She made it in the shape of a green coffee mug surrounded by biscuits and with a sugar paste figure resting on the mug.

Jo, who has been baking cakes for four years, said: “I had to let the green fondant dry overnight, but it took about an afternoon to make.”

*The cookbook, priced £3, is still available from the school. Call 01724 762259 for more details.