The Charities

We’re planning to raise lots of dough at this year’s event for two charities close to the heart of Oxford.

Helen & Douglas House

Helen House was the world’s first children’s hospice, opening in November 1982. It sprang from the friendship between Sister Frances Dominica and the parents of a seriously ill little girl called Helen who lived at home with her family but required 24 hour care. Douglas House opened in 2004 as the world’s first hospice specifically for young adults aged 16-35. Today the two hospice houses continue to provide hospice & palliative care to children and young adults in Oxfordshire & surrounding counties. It costs £5 million per year to run both hospice houses, and they receive less than 15% of this from sources other than voluntary donations. We hope that people will really dig deep at the Bake Off to ensure that these essential hospices can continue their fantastic work in our communities.

Oxfam

Oxfam started in Oxford in 1942 as the ‘The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief’ (later shortened to Oxfam) to lobby the British Government for the relaxation of the Allied blockade of occupied Europe, and to ensure the supply of vital relief to civilians especially in Belgium and Greece. Today Oxfam is a global humanitarian, development and campaigning organisation working with the aim to overcome poverty and suffering around the world. The charity works in 55 countries on a diverse range of projects, from providing emergency water sources to supporting community health projects. We’ll be supporting a project in Niger which helps to get pastoral children into education, which is vital in the second poorest country in the world where one million children don’t go to school.

Please donate generously and help us reach our £2,000 target.