This charity bakes birthday cake for the homeless: ‘I get great satisfaction from giving back’
Aisling McCarthy bakes for charity Consider It Cakes, which provides free birthday cakes for people experiencing homelessness or without access to baking facilities. Picture: Gareth Chaney
Aisling McCarthy, from Greystones, loves making cakes. She is a transformation director with Kraken Technology and, until she found a volunteer group called Consider It Cakes, she would eat all of her baked creations herself.
“I really enjoy baking but I couldn’t keep eating all my cakes,” she says. “Consider It Cakes solved that dilemma. They are a charity that provides free birthday cakes for people who are homeless, living in direct provision, or don’t have the facilities or ability to make a cake.”
One of the first cakes McCarthy made for the charity was for a recovering alcoholic. She says that all she knew was that “he was in his late 20s and had never had a homemade birthday cake — I was delighted to make one for him”.
The Consider It Cakes concept is simple. Volunteers join a local WhatsApp group into which organisers post requests for cakes. Whoever has time to fulfil these requests volunteers to do so and then delivers the finished cake to the required location.
McCarthy says baking these cakes has given her a sense of purpose beyond the workplace.
“I don’t have much time for volunteering but I do have enough time to bake the occasional cake, and I get great satisfaction from giving back in this way. Bringing a little bit of joy into people’s lives makes me feel really good.”
Like McCarthy, Kilian Cawley is a busy professional who believes that volunteering adds to his life. The CEO of company Monaghan Integrated Development began volunteering as a boy scout.
“Early in my career, I spent time working in banking on the island of Jersey and one of my colleagues was involved with the Lion’s Club,” says Cawley. “I helped him to deliver Christmas hampers to people in need and that was an eye-opener.
“Jersey is so wealthy, yet there was so much poverty and need hidden from public view. I have volunteered ever since and have been a member of Monaghan’s Lion’s Club for over 20 years.”
He believes that “volunteers are a powerful force for creating positive change, connecting people, and strengthening communities”.
He also says that volunteering “has enhanced” his life. “Feeling part of something and that shared sense of belonging to a group that’s working to make a difference in the world; these are powerful feelings.”
Experiences like McCarthy’s and Cawley’s could help to explain the findings of a 2024 Oxford University study.Researchers analysed data from 46,336 workers in Britain and concluded that employees who participated in workplace wellness interventions were no better off than colleagues who didn’t. There was one notable exception — workers who were given the opportunity to engage in charity or volunteer work reported a positive impact.
Deirdre O’Shea, a professor of work and organisational psychology at the University of Limerick, explains why volunteering is such an effective wellness intervention in the workplace.
“It’s a pro-social behaviour,” she says. “Seeing how your efforts help others gives a sense of meaning and purpose.”
A growing body of research shows the advantages of having a strong sense of meaning and purpose. It includes a 2023 Australian study that analysed data from 66,468 participants and found that a greater sense of purpose was associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety. Also, a
2014 study by Canadian and US researchers reported that having a strong sense of purpose in life was associated with healthy ageing.
Volunteer Ireland is the national volunteer development organisation and a support body for all volunteer centres in Ireland. Its CEO Nina Arwitz says the benefits of volunteering are comprehensive.
“Our last survey of volunteers in 2023 found that 63% reported an increase in physical health and wellbeing and 69% reported an increase in mental health and wellbeing. Some 64% said they had increased their range of friendships and social contacts, while 67% said they felt more confident and that they had greater self-esteem. And 77% believed volunteering had enhanced their employability and their skills.”
Lorraine Tansey, programme manager of studentvolunteer.ie, adds more reasons why volunteering can be good for professionals.
“It’s fun and allows you to connect with others, expand your social circle, and make new friendships,” she says. “It’s a way for you to broaden your sense of identity in terms of discovering what’s important to you. It can allow you to expand your horizons professionally by allowing you to try out future career opportunities or gain new skills such as communication or negotiation skills or teamwork.”
She has noticed that volunteering can be particularly helpful for those with social anxiety, something she thinks more of us struggle with these days. “Lots of us work from home or in small teams and we don’t get much of an opportunity to socialise or put ourselves forward in new environments or with new people,” she says. “Volunteering can offer a relatively easy and risk-free way for us to practise doing this.”
However, by far the biggest advantage of volunteering, according to Tansey, is that it expands your horizons and reminds you that there is more to life beyond spreadsheets and work deadlines.
“It restores your faith in humanity,” she says. “It’s all too easy to feel negative listening to the news these days but, when you get involved in local groups and organisations, you’re constantly reminded that you live in a community where people are taking action every day to make the world a little better.”
“We’re asking people to pledge 26 hours to volunteering in 2026,” says Nina.
“We know people are under time pressure these days. We also know they are put off the idea of volunteering because they think they’ll have to give time they simply don’t have. But 26 hours is only a couple of hours a month and, by giving it, you’ll make a difference to your community and also get to benefit from the experience of volunteering.”
Her advice to anyone thinking of volunteering is to “sign up for something you care about. If you love animals, volunteer with an animal welfare organisation. If you’re passionate about sport, volunteer with a sports club.
“You’re giving your time for free. It shouldn’t be a chore. It should be a pleasure.”
She also has tips for employers thinking of introducing workplace volunteer programmes.
“Studies like the Oxford study prove that volunteering is good for employee wellbeing but it’s important that the volunteer programme you choose is one where employees can see the difference they make,” she says.
“It’s that difference that leads to the wellbeing benefits. We have a section on how employers can do this on our website.”
Amateur baker Aisling encourages both employers and employees to get involved in such volunteer programmes.
“The world seems like such a dark place at the moment and making an effort where you can shines a little bit of light into that darkness,” she says.
“All I do is bake the occasional cake but I like to think that my cakes bring hope to people by reminding them that there are others who care.
“Knowing that I’ve made other people feel good makes me feel good too.”
- To find out more about the different volunteer opportunities near you or the ways your workplace can partner with local volunteer organisations, visit www.volunteer.ie
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