In less than four weeks the campaign has received HK$30,000 in donations, and this week the social enterprise was busy baking cakes and biscuits and packing them into 85 boxes for delivery to frontline medical staff fighting the coronavirus pandemic at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan.

March says: “I was listening to the eight o'clock clapping hour [on April 3] where everyone was clapping and showing their support for the nurses on the Covid front line, and I kind of got goosebumps and thought, wouldn't it be nice to say thanks to the nurses that are basically putting their lives on the line for us every day, and thought it would be nice for The Nest Bakery to get involved.”

When he contacted the Hospital Authority about donating the cakes, it suggested that for practical and hygiene purposes it would be better to prepare cakes and cookies that are easier to package and eat.

As a result, the staff at The Nest Bakery made baked goods such as banana bread, marble cakes, chocolate muffins, and Earl Grey biscuits, and packaged them into individual boxes. They were delivered to the hospital in Chai Wan by Deliveroo on April 29.

The next batch of cakes and biscuits will be sent to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai. For every HK$380 donated to the campaign via the SparkRaise crowdfunding site, bakery staff will make a set of cakes and biscuits for delivery to the hospital.

She has been helping at The Nest Bakery by measuring ingredients, mixing the batter, and putting it into baking pans. “We are making cakes and putting them in boxes. It feels great to give back to the community. We want to thank you [frontline medical staff] for your service and fighting for us and Hong Kong,” she says.

Another person helping out with the initiative is Henri Lashinski, who has put his artistic skills to use by making some of the individual thank you cards for each package.

Overseeing the baking operations is Charcoal Chu Kwok-wai, the head baker and manager at The Nest Bakery. When the staff heard about this initiative, Chu says they were keen to take part. “They were very excited when they found out about baking for the hospital people. They were anxious to do the packing and to see the reaction from the health care workers,” he says.

The Nest Bakery operation in Sai Ying Pun supplies baked goods, sandwiches, and quiches for its three shops at St John's Cathedral in Central, St Andrew's Church in Kowloon, and Cafe 8.

Chu, who has previously worked at hotels and opened his own bakery, says it isn't too difficult to train people with learning disabilities in how to bake cakes and cookies.

“They are really good … once you tell them what to do, they follow your direction, and the next time they do it themselves. I'm very impressed. I feel good when I see their progress, I am very happy for them.”

March says finding employment for people with learning disabilities is a huge problem in Hong Kong. The Nesbitt Centre finds them work through its social enterprise partners, at hotels, with animal welfare groups, and doing office work for corporations.

The centre was founded in 1993 by Wendy and David Nesbitt to provide English-speaking educational programmes for adults with learning disabilities that include autism, Down’s syndrome and developmental delays, and to help them integrate in the community.