By Angela Green, Content Executive: Adopt a School Trust dinner raises £18,000 for primary school food education.
Earlier this month a brigade of leading chefs volunteered to team up with students at Westminster Kingsway College to deliver a menu in aid of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Adopt a School Trust, the charity delivering food education to local primary schools.
This annual event was hugely popular with tickets selling out weeks ahead, and Adopt a School was thrilled to surpass the amount raised previously, seeing the evening raise more than £18,000 for the charity.
The dinner featured some of the biggest names in the industry providing guests with an exquisite four course menu, while Simon Girling, Director of Food and Beverage at The Ritz London expertly supported the students with wine service during dinner.
The menu
Pig’s Salt Baked Garden Celeriac, Dorset Air Dried Sow Ham, Pickled Beetroot Crosne Artichoke’s and “Golding” Ricotta Salata by James Golding from the Pig Group.
Baked Cod Medallion, Jerusalem Artichoke Puree, Confit Savoy Cabbage, Root Vegetables, Shaved Winter Truffle by Shaun Whatling from the Berkeley Hotel.
Treacle Cured Fillet of Beef, Beef Shin Demi Pie, Hand and Flowers Carrot and Red Wine Sauce by Tom Kerridge from The Hand and Flowers.
Yorkshire Rhubarb, Zephyr White Chocolate & Vanilla Mousse Rhubarb Jelly, Spiced Whole-Wheat Biscuit, Rhubarb Milk Sorbet by Sarah Frankland from Pennyhill Park Hotel & Spa.
The dinner was also the perfect opportunity to celebrate and witness the impact that Adopt a School has on children’s lives.
Children from St Andrews Primary School in Streatham, a school adopted by Adopt a School Chef Lecturer Alice MacKinnon, were invited to serve canapés to guests upon their arrival, emphasising the raison d’etre of this fundraising event. After the event, Deputy Headteacher, Aoife Boland, thanked Adopt a School and the chefs “for inspiring their children and exposing them to such an enriching evening, one that they will remember for a very long time”.
Special thanks were extended to Marc Whitley for masterminding this fundraising dinner.
All proceeds from the dinner will go directly to Adopt a School, which works with 17,000 children every year delivering food education and cooking skills in primary schools, hospital schools, youth clubs and on farms. Adopt a School operates across the UK, but works extensively within the Northwest, West Midlands, Sussex and London, areas with high levels of deprivation.
Helena Houghton, Executive Director of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Adopt a School Trust said: “Not only did this dinner showcase the best of our most established and emerging industry talent, it also raised much needed funds for Adopt a School enabling us to deliver a good food education to many more children around the country. Food education is key to giving young people the knowledge, practical skills and ability to be responsible for their wellbeing and to adopt a healthier lifestyle through informed choice. This is why programmes like Adopt a School are so important.”
For more information about the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and the Adopt a School Programme, visit: www.royalacademyofculinaryarts.org.uk / www.adoptaschooltrust.org.uk
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