This is not an April Fools: Bake Off winner Peter is giving away free homemade bakes

Peter Sawkins, winner of last year’s Great British Bake Off, is baking and giving away free homemade bakes through his Instagram.

The Edinburgh third year is raising money for the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) which is a charity raising awareness of men’s mental health.

In a video on his Instagram account, Peter told his followers he would be giving away his homemade bakes until the end of May on an ad hoc basis. He is announcing the day’s bakes via his Instagram story and they are first come first serve.

Kirsty McArthur, an Edinburgh fourth year and first recipient of the free baked goods, told The Edinburgh Tab: “they were the best tarts of my life”.

Nectarine and mango tarts – baked by Peter himself

If you want some, you have to reply to his Instagram story to reserve them and then wait for a reply to confirm if you’ve been successful. You then pick your baked goods up from Peter (or one of his helpers) from the George Square or Marchmont area.

However, you have to be quick! Since starting the giveaway on Wednesday, all the cake has been reserved in a matter of minutes every time.

Although he is giving the bakes away for free, Peter is encouraging his followers – whether they get cake or not – to donate to CALM.

He previously announced back in February he was running the Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for the same charity. He is still running the virtual marathon at the end of the month with three of his friends Jonny Elsdon, Joshua Wong, and Jamie Donache – who are all also students at Edinburgh.

However, he realised he could use his baking talents to raise even more money for this important cause.

Image credits: @peter_bakes

In a video, the Accounting and Finance student told fans: “At the end of May, a group of friends and I will be running the Edinburgh Virtual Marathon in support of the Campaign Against Living Miserably. I love running, but I’m much better at baking cakes, so we thought, why not use cake to raise money and support CALM’s fantastic work.

“So from now until the marathon at the end of May, I will be sharing any baking that needs to find a home on my Instagram stories. If you live in Edinburgh and can make your way to near the George Square area that day, send me a DM, and I will arrange with the first responders to safely hand over the baking.

“In return, I’ll ask that you donate to CALM through our just giving page that’s linked in my insta bio. So, Edinburgh folks, keep an eye out on my stories, and we’ll hopefully raise some good money and share lots of delicious cake!”

Image credits: @peter_bakes

The Edinburgh Tab spoke to the first person who managed to get some of Peter’s bakes on Wednesday. Kirsty, a fourth year at Edinburgh, was lucky enough to get a box of nectarine, thyme, and almond tart as well as a mango and coconut pie.

She told us : “I don’t think I can fully convey my excitement! By pure chance, I was on Instagram at the same time he put up the first story. I saw it had been up for two minutes and thought it would be all gone but I speedily DMed him and then got a response.

“I then had to walk down to the corner next to Leaf and Bean Cafe in Marchmont. I got to chat to him and it was lovely! He was all masked up so it was very safe and we had a little chat about the marathon he’s running for CALM then he gave us our little boxes of pies.

“He’s just a gem and he made a bunch of stressed out fourth years very happy! They were absolutely gorgeous. It’s also deadline season and this is by far the most exciting thing that’s happened to me this week. ”

On 1st April, The Edinburgh Tab reported Peter had teamed up with Edinburgh Uni to bake a cupcake for every student at the uni to make up for a year of online teaching. Although this was an April Fools, it is great to see Peter using his baking talents to raise money for men’s mental health awareness.

You can donate to Peter’s fundraiser for CALM here.

Cover image credits: @peter_bakes and Kirsty McArthur

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• GBBO winner Peter to bake a cupcake for every Edi student to make up for a year of online learning

• An Edinburgh University student has won the Great British Bake Off

• Edi students have started a petition to get a uni building named after Peter from Bake Off