Annual event returns to Gidea Park and raises thousands in tribute to 18-year-old who died

Following a hiatus during the Covid pandemic, the fundraiser for Cardiac Risk In The Young (CRY) was held on July 16 at Catholic Church of Christ the Eternal High Priest on Brentwood Road.

It rasied £5,440 for the charity, which works to prevent young sudden cardiac deaths through awareness, screening and research.

Aashi Sinha (Image: Submitted)

Aashi Sinha died of cardiac arrest aged 18 in 2013.

The bake sale has been a yearly event since 2014, and this year, local businesses donated up to 1,000 cakes and savoury snacks, including cakes, donuts, hampers, vegan rolls and vegetable samosas.

Sweet and savoury snakes made more than £5,000 for CRY (Image: Karthy Sooraj)

Organisers of the event thanked Tesco’s Gallows Corner, Sweet Rose Cakery in Upminster, Sainsbury’s in Hornchurch, Waitrose in Upminster, Co-op in Gidea Park, Greggs and Jalsa restaurant in Dagenham.

Aashi’s dad Dr Ajay Sinha said they are "immensely grateful for the kindness and generosity of friends and family and the local neighbourhood, and businesses".

He added: "The amount raised will go a long way toward providing screening services to detect cardiac disease in young people."

Karthy Sooraj, who was responsible for sourcing the cakes and delivering them to the event, thanked all those who helped "for their generous contributions that made it a great success".