The owner of a cake company has donated a huge cake in the shape of a stag to the NHS after baking it for a national competition.
Graeme Venus, 48, owner of Sticky Sponge in Stocksfield, took part in Cake International in Birmingham and came second with a design of a stag in world’s biggest and most renowned cake show.
After the competition, the cake business owner of six years was left with the cake– which was made out of chocolate. The cake took three days to be made and after the event, there was limited options on what to do with it so Graeme decided to hand it over to the NHS.
He said: “Part of the requirements of the competition was that the entry had to be fully made from cake, apart from the structure holding it in place, so after the competition it had to be gifted to someone otherwise it would be thrown away,” said Graeme.
“I thought that the RVI would be a good place to donate it to as a way of saying thanks to them for all their hard work during Covid. It also had a personal meaning as they helped my son when he was born with complications.
“So I thought that I could say thanks to them for that as well.”
Graeme was met by a small crowd of NHS staff as they welcomed him and his brilliant cake design.
A spokesperson for RVI said: “We were thrilled by Graeme’s kind donation of his stag cake – it’s a real work of art!
“It was even more heart-warming to hear how appreciative he was of the staff at the RVI and Newcastle Hospitals. We know it will go down a treat in some of our busiest wards.
“Whilst Newcastle Hospitals Charity appreciates all offers of gifts to our hospitals, we regret that not all can be accepted at this time. For more information on donating items to the hospitals, and what we can and can’t accept at the moment, please contact our team on nuth.charity@nhs.net or call 0191 213 7235.”