Andrea Sage spread the word to her friends and fellow Maitland Amnesty members and soon after they were baking a wide range of sweet treats.They took them to The Levee last week and sold them to raise money to help free the refugees who are currently on Manus Island.

Shoppers strongly supported the cause and the group collected more than $300.

An Operation #Not Forgotten Go Fund Me page, which has been set up to help refugees on Manus and Naru islands and also in Papua New Guinea, has already raised more than $229,000. The money raised from the sweet stall will be added to that figure.

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Canada Caring Society and MOSAIC will use the funds to sponsor up to 200 refugees living in these parts. It is estimated about $3.3 million is needed to support 200 of them.

"It was our first fundraiser for this and it went really well, we all cooked something," she said.

"I've been a member of Amnesty for a long time, probably about 25 years. This is not a directive of Amnesty International, this came about because I had an email about what the men were going through and a link to the Go Fund Me page. When I read it I thought we should be doing something to help.

"Those men are living in absolutely shocking conditions. There are men who are critically ill and they are not allowed to come here for medical attention."

To donate go to gofundme.com/f/operationnotforgotten