The sweetest thing: how Loughry student Victoria is combining her studies with baking for hardworking NHS staff

Like scores of students all over the Province, Victoria Brown felt surprised, unsettled - and a little concerned - when she discovered that her classes and lectures were effectively disbanded until further notice.

The shockwaves of the current Covid-19 crisis resonated around the classrooms of CAFRE Loughry campus, where she is in her final year of her Food Technology Honours degree.

But not only did the Magherafelt girl embrace the new, remote way of studying, she also got her sleeves rolled up - quite literally - and stuck in to helping her mother Liz run the family owned home bakery, Sweet Sensations, which makes and delivers all manner of delights to shops and stores around the Mid Ulster area.

And furthermore, they decided to thank local healthcare workers in their own special way - by delivering specially made up boxes of traybakes, cakes and all things sweet to hospital staff.

The Browns run Sweet Sensations from the garage at their home on the Loves Road, just outside Magherafelt.

Family life is equally busy; Victoria is one of four siblings, and they have a collection of horses to care for, all of whom require regular grooming, feeding and exercise, in spite of the current coronavirus pandemic having prohibited any shows.

Between her passion for equestrianism, her work in the bakery, and her studies at Loughry, she is constantly busy, even in lockdown.

But she admits that when she first discovered that the remainder of her degree was to be undertaken remotely, she felt dubious.

“To be honest, at the start, I wondered how on earth we were going to do it,” she says.

“But CAFRE had it all set up really well, and the lecturers have been keeping us updated at all times via email, and we do all of our classes online.

“We had a trial in class one day before the pandemic took place and it worked out really well.

“Our year managers are keeping on top of everything and keeping everyone updated.

“Our course is very hands on, so they give us activities to complete for the next day or two, and then they’ll go through that in the next class, and give us feedback.

“It’s ended up working really well.

“I also have my dissertation due this week, and initially I felt panicked about that, and wondered how I might be able to keep in touch with the lecturers etc.

“But they’ve been there for whatever we need help with at the other end of the phone.”

It’s been well over a month now since Victoria and her colleagues said goodbye to the corridors and classrooms of Loughry and settled into their new routines at home, and it’s been successful so far.

“For me, the online tasks work very well because if I missed a class during the day I was able to catch up later on because they’re recorded, and with the bakeries beside the house I’m working there and then going out doing deliveries, so it just didn’t suit.

“So I could go online at night time and go through the lectures and listen to it rather than trying to find two hours in the middle of the day.

“So between my Loughry work and the bakery, things are mad.”

Sweet Sensations deliver their goodies to local shops around Mid Ulster villages including The Loup and Ballyronan, to name but a few, as well as some supermarkets.

“The products we make include tray bakes, cakes, fruit slices and so on, and then Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are our fresh cream product days.”

Liz and Victoria decided that they would offer a delivery service to people in the area who weren’t able to leave the house - “and that took off over Easter like wildfire”, reveals Victoria.

“We delivered to older and vulnerable people, and those with children who maybe didn’t want to take them with them when they went to get their groceries.

“We’re hopefully going to try and keep this going, and maybe get a team set up to focus on different areas.”

Victoria was struck with the idea of delivering to hospital staff when she saw for herself how places such as Antrim Area and the Mid Ulster in Magherafelt were being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of her friends who worked in one of the hospitals had been telling her how tough the staff were all finding it. “We thought it would be nice to give them all a treat, to make them feel better and just as a way of showing our appreciation really,” she says.

“So we made treat boxes for Antrim Hospital and a few nursing homes in Randalstown and Kells over Easter.

“We also dropped them off to the Mid Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt, and one of my friends works in the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, so we made arrangements for them to be delivered there.

“The staff appreciate it so much. My friend was updating me all the time.

“We made theirs up in special boxes with a little window in the side, all nice and pretty.”

She adds: “You just feel like you are doing something nice for the healthcare workers, and all of those people who are out there working. They have earned a treat. As for my studies, after my dissertation, I have another assignment to do, and our exams are being done in the form of online assessments. So hopefully I will be finished by the end of June.”