ONE of the stars of cookery show The Great British Bake Off will be passing on tips to a Women’s Institute group in North Yorkshire.

Beca Lyne-Pirkis, who reached the semi-finals of the BBC2 contest last year, will also talk about her experience on the show when she takes up an invitation to speak to the Harrogate-based Spa Sweethearts WI as part of their programme of events for the year ahead.

Other events include a French-themed evening led by tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire in June, a month before the Tour de France’s opening stages come to North Yorkshire. The group was formed in 2011 and president Bex Hartley said: “We’re only in our third year, but the 2014 programme is really impressive and we hope other ladies will be inspired to come along to one of the sessions or join us.”

More information is at spasweetheartswi.co.uk, emailing spasweetheartswi@hotmail.co.uk, following the group on twitter and facebook, or attending meetings as a guest at £4 per person.