Ness Factor contestant's bake off for charity event in Inverness

A BAKE sale will be organised by a singing contestant to raise funds for a local charity in Inverness.

Estate agent and Ness Factor finalist Emma Maclaren (37), from Balloch, will be hosting a fundraiser at Tailormade Moves in Beechwood Business Park – where she works – in order to collect donations for the challenge’s organising charity Highland Hospice.

The event will take place tomorrow from 11am-2pm with home-made bakes on offer, and will be part of the fundraising effort all singers are required to do in order to participate in the contest.

Mrs Maclaren said: “It has not been as easy as I thought, it’s challenging to find time for this and the fundraising activities outside work.

“However it’s really fun, it has been very interesting to attend coaching with Fiona Forbes, working to find the right songs and along with the other members of the team.

“We get along very well and it has been fun, especially at group sessions, you can have more of a laugh.”

For her fundraiser she also had the support of a friend’s six-year-old daughter, who ran a 5k to collect donations for the cause, and her sister-in-law took up the challenge to run every single day in August to lend a helping hand.

With the Ness Factor final taking place at the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness on November 2, the time is getting close for Mrs Maclaren and the other singers to take to the stage.

“I am terrified!” she added. “We are all a bit nervous as there is basically just one month to go, but the group is incredibly supportive and it is great to be connecting together.”

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