Kevin Flynn - shining a light for CrossReach

Questions: What do you get when a musician drops by a charity’s fundraising 24-hour bake-a-thon, to support children with disabilities?

And what do you get when the same musician uses their cooking skills to support a charity to provide meals for members of its community, during the summer holidays?

And what do you get when that musician creates impressive macrons as a treat for a distinguished visitor to the charity?

Answer: CrossReach’s Children and Families very own ‘Star Baker’ Kevin Flynn (Great British Bake Off 2022 contestant).

We caught up with Kevin and his sister Louise, Team Leader at our Daisy Chain Early Years Project (Daisy Chain), to find out about his love of baking and about what motivated him to use his culinary brilliance to support our Children and Families services:

“I started baking when I was about 18. I was in my last year at school, and I'd already decided that I wanted to go to the Conservatoire, so I didn’t need any more Highers. I then found myself with 22 free periods!”

Whilst putting the time to good use in practicing his saxophone, Kevin felt the need for an additional and different focus,

“I felt like having a go at baking”, Kevin shared. “My mum can cook and bake, but she wasn't one of these stay-at-home mums that was constantly in the kitchen, so I had to go at it myself.”

Starting with his mum’s old recipe book and note-book, he began working through family favourites before developing and expanding his repertoire.

“All through my baking it's been books and magazines and food writers that have taught me how to bake, but I didn't learn to cook until I started going out with my now wife, Rachel! I'd been baking for a number of years but couldn't even make an omelette - Rachel had to teach me the basics of cooking! But now I love both cooking and baking and Rachel's quite happy for me to take on all the cooking at home.”

We cheekily asked Louise, also a keen baker who previously promoted the CrossReach Grey Bake initiative, who she thought was the best baker in the family! She told us that Kevin’s specialism is phenomenal flavours whilst hers is in the design and look of cakes and that together, they make a great team.

Louise quickly moved the focus away from herself to tell us Kevin is a genuinely generous, kind and personable individual who wants to support people any way he feels he can. She shared that Kevin had wanted to take part in the fundraising bake-a-thon to help replace The Mallard’s broken spa pool, but that he was booked to perform in a show on the day the fundraiser was taking place.  However, he was determined to give his support, so after the show was over, he left the theatre and dropped by The Mallard to bake from 1am - 4am!

During the summer of 2020 when COVID restrictions meant that Kevin (also a teacher) was unable to give his usual support to Scripture Union, he turned his attention to supporting our Daisy Chain holiday food project in Govanhill (funded through Glasgow City Council’s Holiday Food Fund). Louise told us,

“One of the huge issues for our 60 - 80 families is isolation, because they're over here without support from family and friends, so COVID hit these families really big because the isolation was just really pronounced. When the opportunity came about to provide outdoor play during the summer, we thought yeah, we'll incorporate that into our lunch provision as well.”

Knowing that Kevin likes to be kept busy during the holidays Louise, who holds a food hygiene certificate for this work, told him about the holiday food project and he was quick to offer his help:

“I gave him an apron and a hairnet, and we just went for it, and it was really nice for us as well to just spend that time together, brother and sister in the kitchen making all these meals. So families would come to the space that we have at Glasgow Elim and afterwards would leave with a hot meal in take away containers. We really had to be quite creative in how we ensured these families got something to eat.”

Kevin also provided noteworthily delicious Macrons for the recent visit by the Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields to the service in 2022.

We asked Kevin why he wanted to spend time helping others, 

“I really enjoyed just being able to invest in an outreach project that was also about bringing families into the centre and meeting their needs and as Christians, the Bible speaks about how we're called to meet material needs as well as the spiritual and it was really nice to be able to do that as well. I really felt my role was just to show up and do my part and the Bible is clear that there's no better or worse roles; they’re just different and all necessary. And for me, the reason I did it is because I can do it and I should do it. It wasn't about what I could get out of it or how I think I could change things. It was just realising I have these skills so I'll use these skills that God has given me for his work.”

Over the course of the interview, Kevin and Louise’s contagious passion to help people was evident. We are therefore delighted that they have offered to work with us in the New Year as part of a new venture to promote creative mental wellbeing.

*Keep a look out for more information in 2023*

More information about Daisy Chain Early Years Project
More information about The Mallard