AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD’S brilliant baking has raised more than £400 for charity in a single afternoon.

Isla Douglas, with a little bit of help from mum Pauline and gran Maureen Watt, cooked up a storm on September 30 to raise money as part of Macmillan Cancer Support’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.

The annual campaign sees individuals and businesses across the country selling cakes, scones, teas and coffees, with the money going to the cancer charity.

Pauline told the Courier how impressed she was with her eight-year-old daughter’s efforts.

She said: “She saw adverts for it on the television.

“She said to her nana about it while having a sleepover and her nana decided to phone Macmillan Cancer Support there and then.

“The fundraising pack came in under my mum’s name because Isla is under 18 and when the pack arrived it had got the invitations to fill out yourself.

“We live on Muirfield Road in Dunbar and Isla went round every single house and handed in an invitation.

“She went to the lifeboat shop while my mum handed them out at Belhaven Parish Church and Isla gave them to her school friends.

“Then, of course, when she came home from school in the evening, my mum – who would give Mary Berry a run for her money – Isla and myself were baking tray bakes, sponges, carrot cake, the whole lot.”

The baking soon caught the attention of a number of neighbours and people in the town, with local businesses The Pine Marten and Umberto’s donating vouchers for a raffle, which also included boxes of chocolates and bottles of wine, on the day.

A cake and candy stall, as well as the raffle, ensured the day proved a great success, with £420 raised on the day.

Pauline said Isla, who is in P4 at Dunbar Primary School’s Lochend Campus, was delighted with the success of the event.

Her mum, who thanked everyone for the support on the day, added: “We are very proud of her; she is quite the wee fundraiser. A couple of weeks ago, she raised £65 for leprosy.

“It was her birthday the week before in September and we have had our fair share of cake over the past two weeks.

“She loves baking, though, and my mum bakes a lot with her and she is very good at it.”