This year BBC Radio Manchester will be raising money to help cancer patients at The Christie. In addition to raising £1,000,000, The Christie and BBC Radio Manchester aim to raise further awareness of cancer and help transcend the warmth of The Christie across the region.

As someone who is never happier than when his teeth are sunk in to a Victoria sponge, a lemon drizzle cake or a chocolate brownie, my Christie challenge was always going to involve cake. However, it will only work if you get involved as well. I’ll be baking my first cake live at the Cake and Bake show on 5 April and raising donations from various cake sales at the BBC and other glamorous locations! How do you fancy joining me in The Great Christie Cake Off?

Get together with work colleagues, activity groups, church congregations, bingo clubs or any large gathering and organise a Christie Cake Off.  You could just get everyone to bring homemade cake in, charge per slice, get the urn on and raise money whilst eating. Register your Christie Cake Off at http://www.christie.nhs.uk/bbcradiomanchester for a fundraising pack. Why not see if your school, youth club or scout group fancy getting involved - it's a great way for youngsters to learn how to cook.

Also, why not bake our cake of the week, brought to you by celebrities, chefs and top eateries around the North West? All you need to do is donate a suggested £2 or more on my page and I will send it out to you by email or post. There are so many ways that you can get involved and as we're running our cake bakes for the rest of the year, you can bake as many times as you like.

Why not e-mail me at phil.trow@bbc.co.uk with your own best recipe for a listeners choice competition or details of any Cake Off’s you're organising and I might come along. We'd also like your pictures of your works of culinary art and those who've been lucky enough to eat them.

So get the oven on, get baking and follow our progress throughout 2013 on BBC Radio Manchester!