The WI has been told it must pay the Royal Albert Hall thousands of pounds if it wants to serve the cakes to 5,000 women attending centenary celebrations at the venue in June . It’s been a gargantuan undertaking, even by the formidable standards of the Women’s Institute. For days on end, two of its members slaved away baking enough cakes to feed 5,000 women attending the WI’s centenary celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall in June. But the WI has now been told it must pay the venue thousands of pounds to serve the cakes. ‘It’s outrageous,’ said one WI stalwart, who did not wish to be named. ‘We can’t waste money on this. I don’t understand why they just won’t let us give it away.’ Claire Hope, 35, a member of her local WI group in Dorking, Surrey, added: ‘It seems rather petty. 'The WI is a charity and I would have thought the Albert Hall could have come to an amicable arrangement.’ The idea was that the 5,000 members attending the National Federation of the Women’s Institute’s AGM, which this year celebrates the anniversary, would find a box of centenary cake on their seats. But organisers were astonished to be told that the gesture would incur a ‘sampling charge’ of £2,500 because the centenary cake has fallen foul of the Hall’s sponsorship rules. Even though the fruitcake has been home-made by two WI star bakers, some of the ingredients were donated by companies including Dairy Crest, Diageo and Whitworths, and their contribution is acknowledged on the cake boxes. Under the Hall’s booking conditions, extra fees are liable if products of commercial sponsors are promoted inside the building. To avoid the unexpected cost, members will now be given a piece of the cake to eat on the way home, instead of at the venue. A WI spokeswoman said: ‘Once we considered the logistics, we decided it would be easier all round to give every federation their “pieces” to distribute after the meeting.’ The Royal Albert Hall declined to confirm the amount of the extra cake charge - but under the Hall’s booking conditions, extra fees are liable if products of commercial sponsors are promoted inside the building . Baking the 44 WI fruitcakes used more than five stone of butter, several hundred eggs and enough rum to paralyse a fleet of pirate ships. Here’s what it took in total: . The Royal Albert Hall declined to confirm the amount of the extra cake charge. But a spokeswoman said: ‘The Hall charges a fee for sponsors’ commercial products to be promoted within the building. The Women’s Institute informed us that their requirements had changed and the product will no longer be consumed on the premises. Therefore no fee will apply.’ The cakes’ creation has been a military exercise for retired home economics teachers, Anne Harrison, 72, a dairy farmer’s wife from Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, and Pat Tulip, 75, from Bilton, Northumberland. They spent 11 full days last month baking 44 12 x 12in cakes 3.5in deep between them. Divided up, this provides enough cake for the 5,000 members. Miss Tulip said: ‘We’ve been very careful with costing. We used cheap flour and bought eggs in bulk. If we hadn’t had some donations, it would have cost about £1,100.’ The pair followed a recipe chosen following a competition for the WI’s 200,000-plus members won by Julie Clarke, 66, from Coverdale, North Yorkshire, who is chairman of the WI’s North Yorks West Federation.
Women's Institute centenary celebrations will be held at the venue in June .
Told they must pay extra money because some ingredients were donated .
Extra fees are liable if products of commercial sponsors are promoted .