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'Lord Drizzle' raises £130k by baking cakes

GUY CAMPBELL/BBC Baker David Brown, wearing glasses and a Help for Heroes shirt, sits next to a table covered with Christmas cakes decorated with festive toppingsGUY CAMPBELL/BBC
David Brown has made more than a thousand cakes each year, selling them in Beccles

A baker has raised more than £130,000 for veterans' charity Help For Heroes by running cake stalls over 15 years.

David Brown makes more than a thousand cakes each year and sells them in Beccles, Suffolk.

The 81-year-old started baking with his late wife Patricia after their daughter Sally, who served in the Army for 24 years, returned from Afghanistan in 2009.

Mr Brown has this month received a certificate from Help for Heroes thanking "Lord and Lady Drizzle of Beccles" for their support.

Mr Brown, from Burgh St Peter in Norfolk, said his "dear wife Pat" first decided to put a stall out in the front garden in 2009 - and was gobsmacked when she subsequently collected £346 for charity in one day.

GUY CAMPBELL/BBC Two framed certificates can be seen from the Help for Heroes charity, one addressed to "Lord and Lady Drizzle of Beccles" and one to David Brown, thanking them for raising £130,000 from cake sales GUY CAMPBELL/BBC
Mr Brown received the certificates from Help for Heroes, thanking him and his late wife Pat

"I am extremely proud and honoured to do this to raise money for Help for Heroes," he said.

"Help for Heroes christened me Lord Drizzle and the name stuck.

"When the latest certificates arrived, they also put Lord and Lady Drizzle on one of them because they've never forgotten that Pat started it all."

He has proudly continued his wife's legacy since her death in 2016.

GUY CAMPBELL/BBC A selection of cakes covered in clear plastic wrapping are on a table with stickers on them reading coconut and lime, nutty treacle and marmalade loaf GUY CAMPBELL/BBC
Help for Heroes described Mr Brown as a "legend"... and said his cakes were "delicious"

In 2022, Mr Brown was nominated by the charity for a Pride of Britain Award, and in 2024, he was given a Prime Minister's Points of Light award for his voluntary service.

Help For Heroes works to rehabilitate injured veterans, providing them with training for new careers and supporting their mental health.

The charity's area fundraising manager, Dean Williams, said: "David is an extraordinary individual and is an inspiration, not just to other fundraisers, but to me and all my colleagues at the charity.

"He’s something of a legend among the staff."

Mr Williams finished: "What’s more, his cakes are delicious. Pat taught him well."

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