Newham pensioners got really stuck into a cake icing course organised by their housing association in Stratford as they use their retirement to learn a new skill.

The residents of Holden Point Community Scheme in Waddington Road, run by Newham Homes, pay �1 a week to cover the cost of ingredients on their 10 week course from 2pm to 4pm every Wednesday.

The participants, all aged 60 or over, started off learning how to use icing bags and will progress to more intricate and delicate decoration such as iced flowers.

Gillian Lawrence attends the class and also runs a blog called Up Your Street, a free listings service for cheap or free events for seniors over 55 across the five Olympic boroughs.

She said: “It’s a real skill that we’re learning that many of us didn’t have before. We’re making iced cakes and cupcakes and butterfuly cakes. We’re learning how to make flowers for wedding cakes right now.

“We saw that Jamie Oliver was doing his cooking classes in Stratford and thought, hold on, we’re doing our own over here!

It’s just a fantastic idea to keep people busy. We’re really progressing. We don’t want to go away in case we miss any of it.

“When we’re finished, we take the cakes home and eat them or we shared them out with the other Holden Point residents last week.”

To get involved and for more information about seniors events in Newham, visit Gillian’s blog at www.upyourstreet.wordpress.com or email her at gillian.muir@aol.co.uk for free events listings every 10 days.