A local woman has been busy making hundreds of Welsh cakes this past week.

Mary Llewellyn, from St Hilary, has made over 800 Welsh cakes to raise money for Marie Curie this Saint David's Day.

For the past week, Mary says her life has been taken over by baking dozens of cakes and delivering them around the village, as well as leaving them in the telephone box kiosk.

She said she was inspired by a recent Valentine's Day bake sale in St Hilary that raised money for new paediatric pads for the village defibrillator.

"We're not allowed to do door-to-door collections this year, but on the strength of the Valentine's event, I thought of Marie Curie for St David's Day, as the daffodil is their logo," said Mary.

"I asked on the village app if anybody would be interested in Welsh cakes for charity and it just took off.

"It started as about six dozen, but at last count it 70 dozen (840)."

Mary sold her Welsh cakes at £3 for half a dozen, and £5 for a full dozen, but said that many people had kindly paid extra.

"People have been so generous. At the moment we've raised about £500," said Mary.

"It's so kind, because it's such a good cause. Obviously with the pandemic, all charities are suffering and we still need them.

"It's a little way of helping them to carry on their good work."

Waitrose also contributed to the fundraiser by paying for the ingredients.

"I went into Waitrose in Cowbridge on Monday morning. Somebody suggested that they might make a contribution, so I asked a member of staff," said Mary.

"She apologised because they're not doing the green token donations, but I asked if they could pay for part of the ingredients.

"She looked at my trolley and told me to fill it up with everything I needed: flour, currants, the fat and sugar, some bunches of daffodils.

"She ran it through the till and I thought she would offer £10 towards it, but she went on and paid for it all – nearly £30!

"So a big thank you to Waitrose for their donations. I did have to go back and re-stock, but I wasn't going to ask twice!"

The charity Welsh cakes have been delivered throughout last week via a very unusual delivery service.

"We've caused quite a stir because we've delivered it by pony express," said Mary.

"My two granddaughters have ponies and my two grandsons do too. After school we've gone up to hand them out.

"On Friday the standing joke was 'how many people does it take to deliver Welsh cakes? Six people, two ponies and a car!'"

The money raised for Marie Curie will go towards support for people living with a terminal illness and their families.

"I don't normally collect for Marie Curie, another lady in the village does but she's not been able to. We're very grateful for all that we have," said Mary.

"Sadly, I lost my husband two years ago, and we'd just made contact with Marie Curie.

"They were at the end of the phone, and I've got a very good friend who worked for Holme Tower in Penarth so I know all the hard work they do.

"Life would be a great deal harder for so many people if they didn't have the support of Marie Curie, and other charities like Macmillan and Velindre," she said.