FIVE children will receive the birthday cake of their dreams thanks to a generous Farnworth mum.

Michelle O’Brian, who runs a cake and event planning business, decided she would start a “pay it forward”

chain at the beginning of the year.

The expression comes from the Hollywood film, Pay It Forward starring Kevin Spacey, in which a little boy repays a good deed by passing it on to another person instead of to the original benefactor.

Mrs O’Brian, a mum-oftwo, was reminded of the film when on Facebook one night.

She said: “I got the idea from a friend on Facebook who had written a post about making a gift for the first five people who commented — and the only repayment was to pay it forward. I commented and said I would pay it forward but without the gift for me. I just thought it was a nice idea and I wanted to share it.”

Mrs O’Brian, aged 33, put a post on her business’ Facebook page, Bow So Sweet, asking for nominations for five children who deserve the cake of their dreams for their birthday. All Mrs O’Brian wants is for the children to carry on the pay-itforward gesture.

She added: “Even if it’s just to help an elderly neighbour, I think it would be lovely if the children would pass it on too. The hard part has been choosing the kids from the nominations because every child deserves a nice cake.

“I’m having to get a second opinion to help decide on the final five. The reaction from people has been great but it’s all about doing a nice thing for other people.”

Mrs O’Brian is hoping to have chosen the lucky five by the end of the week.

She runs her catering and events business in Manchester Road, Walkden, with her husband, Paul. They have two children — Cohben, aged seven, and one-year-old Spencer.