THE Great British Bake Off proved to be inspirational for staff at Basingstoke firm De La Rue.

Generous colleagues at the banknote printer, headquartered in Viables, raised funds from their very own bake off challenge to buy food for Basingstoke homeless charity the Camrose Centre.

The staff raised £213 which was used to buy things like tins of vegetables, jars of peanut butter, biscuits and breakfast cereals for the drop-in centre which helps homeless and vulnerable people in the borough.

Order administrator Holly Reedman, who helped to organise the event, said: “When The Great British Bake Off finished, we thought it would be a good way to raise money for a local charity, so we held our own bake off every Friday for eight weeks.”

Leigh Emery, from the company’s planning and shipping department, won the bake off with his delicious chocolate orange velvet bombe cake.

He was among those who brought the food to the charity at Glebe Hall, behind St Michael’s Church, in the centre of Basingstoke.

Holly said those who took part in the challenge were keen to support the Camrose Centre in part because her colleague Anita Wheeler, who also helped with the delivery, is an active supporter of the charity.

Holly, who is hoping De La Rue will match fund the amount raised, said: “It must be awful being homeless, especially during the winter months.”

Camrose Centre manager Clare Simpson, said: “It’s a good time of year to receive this and we are extremely grateful to all those at De La Rue.

“It’s great that they raised the money for us. They sent us a wish list so we were able to say what we wanted as we already have a stockpile of things like pasta and rice. Things like tins of vegetables and pasta sauce go down very well.