Alongside the school projects, we've made our own at home each year, with my girls coming up with ever more ambitious designs year on year... A few years after the school project started, they wanted to make little houses for their teachers, which we did, and the next year on a spur of the moment thought, I posted a picture of these on Facebook to see if anyone would like any.  I was inundated with orders and a little gingerbread factory was born, which quickly became The Gingerbread Grotto, with all its twinkly lights and sparkly stars and a progression of gorgeous gingerbread ideas!

2020 brought its own challenges, with fairs and stalls cancelled and not being unable to run the Grotto workshops, but where there's a creative will, there's a way - and although working out how to keep the Grotto going was challenging, exhausting and time-consuming, I provided new goodies and Half Way House kits for people to do at home, to bring some of the colour and fun (and sugar!) from The Gingerbread Grotto to individual houses at the end of what was a very difficult year for so many.

2022 will hopefully bring back being able to come to The Grotto again for workshops and will be the first year providing kits and workshops at the same time, but with new financial challenges for many.

I’m pleased to have helped the Uttlesford Foodbank since 2017, donating an individually wrapped Gingerbread Grotto goodie to each of the Christmas parcels each year, ranging from 100 to 450 items each year.

Since my eldest daughter helped to organise this when she was in year 12 in 2018, I’ve also supported Saffron Walden County High School’s Sixth Form OAP Christmas Party - donating individual giftbags or boxes for each of the attendees and for the hampers they created in lieu of the physical party during Covid times.

For many years each school and pre-school my children attended had a large decorated centrepiece gingerbread house to raffle to help with fundraising - and we’ve delivered many a house on our way back from a fair to delighted recipients and wide eyes!

I support local events and charities where I can with vouchers or items for hampers and raffles and last year Cafe Cornell, in Saffron Walden, also had a large number of individually wrapped biscuits for their Christmas hamper bags.

I’ve loved supporting my daughters’ schools by giving my time to create the gingerbread projects described above, for many years.

I love supporting local worthy causes but unfortunately, as a small business, there is a limit to how much support I can offer, so I keep these donations to causes that have a specific resonance with or connection to our family and cannot respond to all requests for donations.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Catherine