The Royal Oak Saundersfoot hosted a charity coffee morning on Thursday, November 3 in aid of Velindre Cancer Centre and Macmillan Cancer Support, joined by rugby legends Tom Shanklin, Josh Navidi and Ceri Sweeney, and BBC television presenter, Rachel Treadway-Williams. Michelle Evans-Fecci, a contestant on series ten of The Great British Bake Off and the star baker of cake week, also joined to judge a celeb bake-off.

The coffee morning kicked off with appearance testing for the celebrity cakes. Tom Shanklin, former Wales star, made cinnamon buns (which he claims took him two and a half hours to bake!). Josh Navidi went in strong with his mother’s recipe for a white chocolate cheesecake with a homemade berry coulis, and Ceri Sweeney took two great bakes along - a banana cake and went head-to-head with Tom on cinnamon buns. GBBO’s Michelle judged the bakes on their appearance, then kept a slice for a taste test which streamed live on the Oak’s Facebook page.

After appearance judging, the cakes were then added to the cake sale to raise funds. Josh Navidi’s cheesecake won first place in the final taste test.

He commented, “Tom’s said he was a bit worried about the competition from my cheesecake as it looked great…and I thought I was onto a winner until I nearly dropped it taking it out of the tin! The boys thought it was hysterical, but thankfully it didn’t fall. Events like these are just brilliant - it great to raise money for charities that do so much good and I’m delighted to play a part.”

The Oak’s fundraising efforts included a raffle, silent auction, JustGiving page, and cake sales on the day, and raised a grand total of £14,125. The proceeds will be split equally between both cancer charities.

Event Organiser and Royal Oak co-owner, Anne Alison, commented ‘We had a fantastic, fun-filled morning and even the sun came out for a while! I can’t thank everyone who joined and supported the event enough. Huge thank you to the rugby legends for baking, Rachel Treadway-Williams for presenting the live video, and Michelle as our bake-off judge.

The support from the local Saundersfoot community has been incredible as always and we’re delighted to have raised vital funds for Macmillan and Velindre.”

Sue Reece, Fundraising Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, who attended the event said, “A huge thank you to everyone at The Royal Oak for hosting such an amazing star-studded coffee morning for Macmillan. The money raised today will have a huge impact on local people living with cancer, their families and carers and will help us continue providing emotional, practical and financial support. ”

The Royal Oak will continue raising money through a charity raffle during the festive season. Prizes include tickets to a show of your choice at Motorpoint Arena, a Barbour Men’s jacket, a Welsh FA-signed football, and more! Tickets are available to purchase at the Oak and the raffle will be drawn on December 19.