Bakeries, cafes and businesses interested in participating in National Doughnut Week can now officially register to get involved with the fundraising.

The week, from May 6 – 13, raises funds for The Children’s Trust, the UK’s leading charity for children with brain injury. It has been running for 26 years, after being launched in 1991 by independent baker, Christopher Freeman.

Last year National Doughnut Week celebrated its 25th anniversary and raised £22,783 with the help of 394 bakers, shops and businesses getting involved.

Bakers who register to get involved in the week will receive a special pack full of promotional materials from sponsors CSM with everything they need to make the most of the occasion and raise as much money as possible through sales of their delicious doughnuts.

Last year’s participants included Warings Bakery and Birds Bakery, who got involved with the fundraising and created some delicious doughnuts.

Warings Bakery said: “We always look forward to National Doughnut Week as it’s such great fun. It provides a splash of colour in what can be a beige industry and adds fun for our customers who love supporting the charity through the eating of doughnuts.

“We always choose a theme and create a range of doughnuts to match, giving us a focus on how to decorate our shops, dress up and create our games. Our theme last year was ‘Circus’ and our doughnuts included The Ring Master, Dotty Clown, Toffee Popcorn, and even an American Hotdog Doughnut called The Strongman. We also ran a competition to ‘find the doughnuts in the big top’.”

Mike Holling from Birds Bakery said: “We’d definitely recommend getting involved! We have supported National Doughnut Week for over 15 years and this year we look forward to helping make the week another huge success. Our target this year is to raise £8,000, our biggest achievement yet.

“We use the week as an opportunity to launch new flavoured doughnuts, and by taking part we have achieved some great publicity in the local media and helped to support a fantastic cause – The Children’s Trust.”