FOR YOUR BAKE
We suggest £4/$4 - but accept any donation!
Funds go directly to Open Medicine Foundation to support collaborative medical research to find effective treatments and diagnostic markers for chronic complex diseases with initial focus on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) and LONG COVID
ALL LEVELS/AGES are encouraged to enter a BAKE into ROUND 11 The Storybook/Comic Bake Off!
It's simple - choose your fave story/comic to inspire your bake - then get baking!
Take a photo of your creation and TAG @bake4mecfs or #bake4mecfs and/or #cakes4longcovid on any of our social media platforms!
If you're not on social media you can email your bake to bake4me.social@gmail.com
To help us maximise raising awareness (and funds!) we ask for you to nominate 4 friends to also bake!
Our Celeb Judge and creator Jennie Jacques will give STAR BAKER a personal shout out! The writer of comic book UP & OUT is kindly gifting TWO signed comics to our winner! AND Illustrator Neil Kohney is gifting a personalised CARTOON portrait. This round is going to be a lot of FUN!
ME/CFS is a life-altering and complex multi-system disease that persists for a minimum of 6 months. People who are diagnosed usually have a very poor quality of life and can be unable to cope with even general daily activity - ie taking a shower or brushing teeth can be virtually impossible in some cases.
The illness can fluctuate for a portion of people (moderate to mild) which means they do get some relief on odd days, but even 'mild' ME/CFS is life altering. For others it can be severe and constant. There are millions of people missing with this illness.
The cause of ME/CFS remains unknown and this is why we desperately need to help the researchers!
Patients can be left bed-bound and house-bound for years due to physical disability and associated chronic pain. There are overlaps with other illnesses such as fibromyalgia, POTS and even multiple chronic and persistent new infections can sometimes take advantage of the person who is already unwell.
Imagine lockdown, forever and then inject the flu plus a heavy hangover with out the partying - you might get an idea of how some days for some people with this illness can be.
For several decades, very sadly, those diagnosed have suffered in almost complete silence.
We must give people with ME/CFS a voice. This baking contest is just a light hearted way to raise awareness for an illness which is currently robbing lives. And criminally under funded.
We need your help! Baking a cake and donating some spare change will contribute to raising awareness for ME/CFS and funds for The Open Medicine Foundation to accelerate scientific research.
ME/CFS can be triggered by many forms of trauma, the most common form is a viral infection. COVID-19 is a potential trigger for many more cases of ME/CFS, which we may begin to see over the coming months - this is why we need to get ahead before we get even more behind. Post-viral illness is not something to be taken lightly - as many more will unfortunately soon discover.
This was written last year and since then, as predicted, post infectious illness and long term viral damage and debilitation is escalating. 'Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) is leading a large-scale international collaborative study investigating the potential conversion of Post-COVID infection — more commonly known as Long COVID or Post-COVID Syndrome — to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a chronic, life-altering disease with no known cause, diagnostic test or FDA approved treatments available.
Up to 2.5 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from ME/CFS; the COVID-19 pandemic could at least double that number. OMF is funding the Post-COVID to ME/CFS research study to find the answers necessary to return millions back to health.
The COVID crisis presented a unique opportunity to understand how a viral infection — in this case COVID-19 — may develop into ME/CFS in some patients. OMF's goal is to find targeted treatments for ME/CFS patients and ultimately prevent its onset in people infected with COVID-10 or other viral-infections.
Open Medicine Foundation Collaborative Network is conducting an international, multi-year study to unlock the triggering mechanisms of ME/CFS as revealed through the study of Post-COVID Syndrome patients!'
#BAKE4MECFS #ipicnic4longcovid s a fun and simple way to show those who are suffering, we hear them and we care!
This Saxon Queen duo from the infamous show Vikings kicked off our first round of baking - actresses Jennie Jacques and Amy Bailey!
For the 2nd Round of BAKE4MECFS we were lucky enough to have English Actress, comedian and writer Miranda Hart join the judging panel! And in collaboration with The Miranda Shop, Miranda Hart is back to judge Round 8! Such Fun!
Talented cake designer and teacher Georgia Green (Georgia's Cakes) kicked off round 3 with the inspirational Anna 'M.E myself and I' who has raised £20,000 since 2013 for ME/CFS!
Round 4 - the spooky special - we were delighted to have Actress and recipe creator Fay Ripley along with GBBO Finalist Helena Garcia on our Halloween bake off judging panel...
Round 5 - The Viking Queen herself helped us to judge the Christmas Round! Do you think she uses her sword to cut the cake?
Round 6 - The Ultimate Story Book Bake Off! We were lucky enough to have Irish Novelist known for works like PS I LOVE YOU! And disabled writer and blogger Lorna @creamcrackeredblog
The STAR bake was entered by Sarah. We read in Sarah's bio that she is an endometriosis warrior! Endometriosis is a long term condition which affects 1 in 10 women. Similar to ME/CFS it is evident that Endometriosis is painfully under researched. We were honoured that Sarah chose to bake to raise awareness for us.
And we very much look for
The STAR bake was entered by Sarah. We read in Sarah's bio that she is an endometriosis warrior! Endometriosis is a long term condition which affects 1 in 10 women. Similar to ME/CFS it is evident that Endometriosis is painfully under researched. We were honoured that Sarah chose to bake to raise awareness for us.
And we very much look forward to sharing Sarah's story behind this 'SUCH FUN' bake.
"My daughters Daisy (age 4) and Bella (age 2) are delighted to have won mini star baker!
We are always keen to support ME/CFS charities as my sister Naomi has suffered from severe ME for over 30 years. She’s incredible, despite all her years of suffering, and she is a wonderful Auntie to the mini star bakers!
Naomi has got a website here,
"My daughters Daisy (age 4) and Bella (age 2) are delighted to have won mini star baker!
We are always keen to support ME/CFS charities as my sister Naomi has suffered from severe ME for over 30 years. She’s incredible, despite all her years of suffering, and she is a wonderful Auntie to the mini star bakers!
Naomi has got a website here, where she shares her writing about life with severe ME.
As well as supporting a good cause that is close to our hearts, the girls and I love baking. Despite their young age, Daisy and Bella have spent many hours baking, and the cake was all their idea. They chose the colours of the cake and loved creating the face on top. They did all the decorating and took great care in making sure the sides were evenly covered with sweets! And of course making sure there were some left to taste along the way!"
"I heard about the competition through Miranda Hart's Instagram page.
I have ME/CFS myself, so I was excited to see a competition to raise awareness and funds. My Mum helped me create this cake over a few weeks of paced baking to make it more manageable for me. I chose to make a sloth, because a lot of the time I feel like due to ME/CFS
"I heard about the competition through Miranda Hart's Instagram page.
I have ME/CFS myself, so I was excited to see a competition to raise awareness and funds. My Mum helped me create this cake over a few weeks of paced baking to make it more manageable for me. I chose to make a sloth, because a lot of the time I feel like due to ME/CFS my body and mind are on a go slow, never getting far despite using all my energy. So I feel quite like a slow sloth! Even though ME/CFS impacts my whole life, I am still me, my own unique individual, with lots to give including a sense of humour and fun. So I wanted to make this cake a bit fun with the happy sloth, and rainbow on the inside, showing that despite ME/CFS I am still here, my own self, and ME/CFS does not define me.
Thanks for running this competition. It means a lot to me to see ME/CFS being recognised, and it is very uplifting to be able to be apart of it! I look forward to creating some more bakes!"