Cynthia Stroud transformed her life from having just £10 in her pocket and nowhere to live, to founding a hugely successful jam and wedding cake business Pretty Gorgeous Jams.

Originally from Nigeria, Cynthia moved to England in 2004 to study for her Master of Business Administration after a degree in Microbiology. She found work in Hertfordshire and began making cakes as a way to relax after work. However, it became apparent that her childhood passion for baking had matured into a strength and she quickly established herself as a force in the industry.

She founded her wedding cake and jam business Pretty Gorgeous Jams in May this year, and business has swiftly ramped up, with international distribution deals now on the table. Cynthia is highly respected in the industry and as well as running the busy shop and online jam business, she is a multi-award-winning cake designer and TV food Judge on Food Network & Channel 4. Recently she has starred as one of the experts on BBC2’s Sweet Makers and has just flown over to Canada to judge a food competition for Canadian TV.

During the first lockdown, kind-hearted Cynthia stopped production of her jam and cake business, switching to creating food parcels for children who were going hungry.

She quickly discovered that there was a huge demand for the food parcels from local families struggling to put food on the table. Cynthia and her team have had to expand their distribution rapidly, and they are now is giving away almost 100,000 free meals every month to 1500 families through 47 schools across the Stevenage, Welwyn and Hatfield areas.

Demand doesn't seem to be waning and the team are constantly receiving new enquiries incoming at the rate of 200 new families every week.

Cynthia's hard work and generosity was rewarded as she was decorated in the Queens New Year's Honours List with a medal of the Order of the British Empire for services to business and community.

She has also been awarded the 'Pivot for Purpose' award at the prestigious Lloyds Bank National Business Awards, announced in a virtual ceremony on Tuesday 10th November. Previous winners include BBC Dragon's Den star Sara Davies MBE founder of Crafter's Companion who won the 'Outstanding Contribution' award at last year's ceremony and James Timpson, Chief Executive, Timpson, Winner of 'Leader of the Year' category at the 2019 ceremony.