by Kate Bentham

So Commscamp is having to do things a little bit different this year. We can’t all meet and eat cake together, but that doesn’t mean that cake isn’t going to feature – it is after all what Commscamp is all about, not the comms, but the cake.

Here’s how this year’s cake table is going to work.

The cake baking competition is still on. Yay. Could you be this year’s Star Baker and winner of the wooden spoon? We will be asking our bakers to send a photo of their wonderful creations and the winner will be announced in the Prize Room at the end. Look out for posts closer to the day on how you can submit your photo.

We all still need to make sure we have some cake to eat. The fact of the matter is that anyone who has attended a Commscamp in previous years would have left feeling sick from the amount of cake they consumed during the day, but them’s the rules. We still want people to connect over a slice of lemon drizzle and there will be plenty of opportunities to join others in shared break out spaces to chat, so make sure you have some cake to hand.

We are still raising money for charity. At Commscamp we ask those that can, to donate a few pennies for a slice of cake. This money then goes to a chosen charity. Since Commscamp first started in 2013 the lovely attendees have raised nearly £3,000. This year the chosen charity is The Christie and you can read a very personal blog post from Emma Rogers  on what this charity means to her and her family.

There’s still a raffle. This year if you donate you will be entered into a raffle, not to win top tat but to win cake. Actual cake. Through the post. What’s not to like about that?

There’s a special Commscamp cake cook book. We’ve been in touch with some of our lovely regular bakers and previous star bakers to ask them to contribute a recipe to a special Commscamp book and we are very grateful that they have. You can download the book and try your hand at baking some of the wonderful cakes. The cook book is free to download but there’s nothing stopping you donating if you can. Watch out for posts on how to download.

They’ll be a Commscamp bakealong. One of the sessions at #Commscampstayshome will be making some tiffin – you can join in, or if you want a bit of peace and quiet while you attend a session on actual comms, get the children to join in instead. If you want to take part, you’ll need these ingredients in advance.

100g Butter

200g Milk chocolate

3tbsp golden syrup

225g Finely crushed digestive biscuits

225g mint Aero, Maltesers or 4 broken crunchie bars

100g Melted chocolate

So, there we have it, a virtual Commscamp but still with a lovely slice of cake on the side.

Happy baking and see you by the cake table at #CommsCampStaysHome

Kate Bentham

Official Cake Monitor

Big thanks to our super main sponsors Touch Design, Granicus,  and Brand Stencil.

Thanks to our co-sponsors texthelp, Dan Slee, CAN Digital and Birdsong Consultancy.

Thanks to our supporters: Public Sector Digital Transformation Forum CIPR Local Public Services and David Banks Media Law.