Civil servants scoff the sweet stuff

It's a rare occasion that civil servants succumb to their sweet tooth (or should that be collective teeth?), preferring as they often do to nibble on half a raw carrot stick or bowl of pureed lentils*. But today DWP civil servants did a stirling job of putting their aversions to the sweeter stuff to one side to "Raleigh" round to support Ros at her inaugural charity cake sale.

The cake sale and "guess my time" raffle, which took place at Caxton House at 11am, raised a grand total of £112 for Raleigh International.

It featured a wholesome banana and walnut cake which disappeared in about 3 minutes (see - they DO prefer the healthier options!**), an array of citrus fairy cakes and several hunks of chocolate and pecan brownies, which proved to be the downfall of more than one senior civil servant.

The cake sale also featured the opportunity to put money on Ros the Raleigh Runner (who pranced in the style of a famous racehorse for the occasion) by guessing her official finish time in the forthcoming Windsor half marathon, with some staff musing over the clue sheet for a good half hour before basing their decision on whether Ros looked sprightly or sluggish as she dished up the fairy cakes***.

Ros voiced her gratitude to all who partook in the festivities, thanking everyone in Private Office and Press Office for their generosity, not to mention the people on the 5th and 6th floors of Caxton House that she foisted brownies upon.

"This is just the beginning," she said. "We'll be holding another couple of cake sales in the next few weeks for colleagues at other DWP sites across London. I am overwhelmed by your support for me and for Raleigh International - thank you so much for coming along today. If we can raise even half as much money at the next two sales, I will easily hit the 50% mark for my fundraising target!"

At the same time, she acknowledged the emotional struggle that many of her colleagues had to undergo in order to support her sale. "I know how much civil servants dislike cake," she said.

Ros is getting quite used to writing about herself in the third person.

*Example of dodgy evidence, which should not be used to inform policy-making.
** Example of dodgy deductive reasoning
*** See two footnotes above