A St Albans school held a charity bake off which helped them reach a total of £70,000 for communities around the world.

Herts Advertiser: St Columba's College in St Albans held a charity bake off which helped them reach £50,000 in total fundraising for CAFOD. Picture: CAFODSt Columba's College in St Albans held a charity bake off which helped them reach £50,000 in total fundraising for CAFOD. Picture: CAFOD (Image: Archant)

St Columba's College in King Harry Lane has spent years fundraising for CAFOD (the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development), and recently held a school-wide bake off which raised nearly £500, bringing their overall total to £70,000.

Bakers from the whole school took part, with teachers and house captains as the judges. Participants were encouraged to use fair trade products and the event raised £489.

Pupil Grant Papesh said: "The competition was fierce as there were some amazing entries this year, including house-themed cakes, cookie monster cakes, a cake with teacher photos, a CAFOD cake, and a cake based on this year's school play 'We Will Rock You'."

The school has also held other pupil-led projects, with a week of social justice earlier in the year where more than 80 pupils took part in a simple meal as an act of solidarity for those living in poverty.

Teacher Joe Tatham, who has organised fundraising events over the past decade, said: "We have a long tradition of working with CAFOD and our campaigns have been wide-ranging; from big fundraisers such as World Record attempts and more than 12 years of sponsored bike rides, to many bake off competitions and collections for in-school events like concerts and book sales.

"We've also supported many campaigns that have lobbied parliament, carried out bucket brigades at short notice for emergency causes and annually sell charity 'world gifts' at our Columban Fayre."

The school has hosted guest speakers from around the world as part of its work with CAFOD, and local CAFOD volunteers have visited the school to deliver workshops. CAFOD's education resources have also been used as a framework for the school's social justice lessons.

St Albans CAFOD representative Tony Sheen said: "It was overwhelming to see so many young people baking with such enthusiasm and knowing it was going towards a good cause.

"We would like to say a massive thank you to all the young bakers of St Columba's College for raising much-needed funds for communities overseas and the continual support of all the teachers and pupils."