It was kitchen scales and mixing bowls at the ready as students at a local charity vied for honours in a special “bake-off” challenge.

The Bridge Project, based in Sudbury’s Gainsborough Street, provides vocational training, education and employment opportunities for disadvantaged adults in the local area.

On Wednesday, partner volunteers from the town’s Waitrose store helped more than 30 students with tasks such as weighing flour, creaming butter and sugar, and whipping cream before the resulting array of cakes was served up at a typically British afternoon tea.

Members of the public assembled in the Bradbury Courtyard garden to taste delights ranging from scones with jam and cream to flapjacks and a lemon drizzle cake. They then had a chance to help judge the winning dishes.

Bridge Project founder and chief executive Anesta Newson said: “The idea was based on the Great British Bake Off but it’s really about our students coming together and baking some delicious cakes.

“It draws on their baking skills but also helps with team building. In addition, it offers a practical way of teaching numeracy skills with all the weighing and measuring. All in all, it’s been a really successful initiative, which we hope to make into a regular event.”

At the afternoon tea, Sudbury Waitrose branch manager Patricia Blair told the EADT: “We sponsored the bake off with ingredients to make the cakes and provided three helpers through our partner volunteering scheme who worked with the students throughout the day.

“We are proud to be involved with the Bridge Project. It gives us an opportunity to help others but we also get a lot back from the community as a result.”

The three volunteers, Alison Clarke, Jane Felton and Sarah Pilgrim, said they had “thoroughly enjoyed” the experience.

Ms Clarke added: “It’s been a fantastic day. Waitrose has close connections with the Bridge Project so it has been wonderful to come out, get involved on a personal level and see what they do here. The cakes have turned out really well too.”