Specialist care provider Glen Care has handed its first ever Employee of the Month award to a member of staff who launched her own version of the Great British Bake Off.

Laura Friend, a therapeutic care worker at Glen Care’s Glenhurst Lodge, developed baking groups where residents could hone their cake-making skills.

Residents were encouraged to be as creative as possible to decorate their own mini masterpieces, many of which the provider says wouldn’t have looked out of place on the popular BBC baking contest.

Laura was put forward for the accolade because of the time and effort she put into setting up extra activity sessions for service users alongside her day-to-day job.

Glenhurst Lodge, in Maidstone, Kent, supports 24 adults with mental health needs, with the aim of giving them the skills they need to live as independently as possible.

The baking sessions were part of an initiative to encourage service users to self-cater their meals in Glenhurst’s fully-equipped kitchen. Residents are given a fixed weekly budget to do their food shopping to help them develop their cooking skills and manage their money.

Laura said: “I’m honoured to have been named Glen Care’s first ever Employee of the Month. Our service users really enjoyed creating their own cakes. Even those who find it difficult to engage in creative activities really got stuck in, working on all the little details which go into making a cake look and taste fabulous.”

Glen Care chief operating officer Lee Houghton, said: “Laura excels in motivating our service users and went above and beyond her day-to-day job to set up extra activity sessions, which help to support service users independent living skills.”