DOROTHY House have launched a new fundraising initiative, which they hope will rival Macmillan coffee mornings, with what they are calling Dorothy's Tea Party.

This is where the community are invited to get involved by hosting or attending their tea party or coffee morning at home, in their workplace or anywhere else at any time in the year to help fundraise for the charity.

And to kick off this initiative, which is supported by Rachel Demuth of Demuths Cookery School and previous owner of the award-winning Demuths restaurant, a mini Bake Off took place in Bath, with Dorothy House employee and Chippenham resident Hollie Gale triumphing in the contest.

Hollie Gale, 35, of Cepen Park, said: "The first real event from Dorothy House went well, we have had coffee mornings before but this is the first of its kind.

"The inspiration for my cake came from an episode of Great British Bake Off I saw a couple of years ago. It is a multi-layered cake called a Schichttorte which you cook under a grill, it took me five hours to make.

"Another reason I chose to make a German cake is because we had visitors from a German hospice come over to see us. In East Friesland they are very big on tea so I thought it would be rather fitting to make a cake from that area for our tea party.

"What is important is to raise awareness of Dorothy House’s work as statistically a quarter of us will be touched or have been by hospice care in our lives."

The tea party was hosted by Ms Demuth at her cookery school kitchen in Bath and she judged the competition too.

To order a Dorothy’s Tea Party pack visit https://www.dorothyhouse.org.uk/get-involved/fundraising/dorothys-tea-party/.