Free birthday cakes for children in hard-up families are on offer thanks to a team of volunteer bakers.

The scheme will start in the borough this weekend, with families able to apply for the cakes baked especially by one of the six volunteers.

Birthday cakes as well as other celebration cakes will be made for the eligible children, with each cake personalised into a design of the child’s choice.

Christine Hatt, who is coordinating the scheme and lives in Tottenham behind White Hart Lane stadium, said: “It is a small thing but it can bring a lot of pleasure, especially when children are having a difficult time.

“I think since the recession a lot of people are really strapped for cash and we are able to provide a personalised cake especially for your child.”

The community-spirited team will pay for the cake ingredients out of their own pocket, as well as give up their time to make the cakes for the children who need them most.

Christine, who works for an unrelated charity in the city, and her five friends will approach children’s centres and food banks in the coming weeks to make families aware of the new project on offer in Haringey.

At this stage, she is unsure how high the demand for the free cakes will be, although she expects each of the volunteers to be baking at least one cake per week.

The scheme is part of Free Cakes for Kids UK, which started in Oxford in 2008 after a similar scheme was laid out in America.

There are more than 40 groups across the UK, with London boroughs Hackney, Lambeth and Merton already running the project.

To date, volunteers have baked 403 cakes as part of the UK project.

To make a referral, to become a volunteer or to find out more information, send an email to Christine at haringeyfreecakesforkids@yahoo.co.uk.