Leading UK chef to serve up sumptuous menu at exclusive charity ball
12 February 2014
Jason Atherton dinner at Victoria and Albert Museum to be highlight of Farm Africa’s Food for Good Ball
A mouth-watering menu prepared by the Michelin-starred British chef Jason Atherton will be the highlight of Farm Africa’s Food for Good Ball, to be held on March 27th at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
The restaurant supremo is thrilled to be preparing the special menu to help celebrate the astonishing success of Food for Good, a major fundraising initiative set up by the UK’s food and hospitality sectors to support the leading charity Farm Africa’s work to help end hunger in Africa – for good.
In offering generous support for the Ball, the chef has been joined by ABP Food Group and Compass Group UK & Ireland which are providing generous sponsorship of the evening. It’s still not too late to become a Platinum-level sponsor and join in supporting the Ball.
The Jason Atherton dinner, to be served to 250 discerning guests under the museum’s majestic Dome, is just the latest example of the leading chef’s support for Farm Africa’s Food for Good campaign which has raised in excess of £500,000.
Jason has been involved in Food for Good right from the start and describes Farm Africa as “a cause close to my heart”. In 2011 the chef hosted a lavish send-off dinner at his flagship London restaurant, Pollen Street Social, for a team of food industry leaders. Two weeks later the team scaled Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, raising £250,000 for Farm Africa in the process.
Looking forward to the Food for Good Ball, Jason said:
“All of us who work in the food and hospitality sectors need to do more to help those struggling to produce enough food for their families and communities to eat in incredibly challenging circumstances. That is why I am so proud to be supporting Farm Africa through the Food for Good Ball. By coming together to raise as much money as we can on the night, the food and hospitality sectors can show just how much we can all do in the coming year and beyond to support Farm Africa’s work in tackling hunger – for good. I look forward to seeing more of my friends and colleagues from the industry lending their support for Food for Good in the coming months.”
Also adding some extra lustre and star quality on the night will be former England and British Lions rugby legend, Martin Bayfield, who will keep guests entertained throughout as the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. Looking forward to the evening, Martin said:
“I’m thrilled to be involved in Farm Africa’s Food for Good Ball and to being part of an evening that will do so much to create positive change on the ground in eastern Africa. I’m really looking forward to doing as much as I can to making the evening a great success.”
Food for Good Ball launches year of fundraising activities
The V&A Ball is just the beginning of a year of planned fundraising events which will build on last year’s success, injecting even greater momentum into the food and hospitality sectors’ support for Farm Africa’s life-changing work.
Aiming to emulate the success of companies last year that raised thousands of pounds for Food for Good, many companies new to the campaign are already planning their Food for Good activities for 2014, including African challenges and staff fundraising.
You can find out much more about both Farm Africa’s Food for Good Gala Ball and how you or your company can get involved here: http://www.farmafrica.org/food-for-good/food-for-good-ball
Ends
Notes to Editor:
For more information, please contact the Farm Africa Press Office:
Ngaio Bowthorpe, 020 7841 5156 /ngaiob@farmafrica.org
About Food for Good
Food for Good is a Farm Africa initiative that is bringing together the food and hospitality industries to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the world today: hunger. You can find out more about Food for Good here: www.farmafrica.org/foodforgood / 0207 067 1254
Images from Food for Good events in 2013 are available via an online collection which is available here: http://resources.farmafrica.org/?c=360&k=b0db057371 Click on any images for download options.
Farm Africa is also the chosen charity for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013, sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
In 2013 Food for Good sponsored events raised more than £500,000 for Farm Africa. In May, Sainsbury’s Director of Brand, Judith Batchelar, led a team of twelve women in digging a huge fish pond in rural Kenya that will be a lasting source of nutrition and income for years to come. In August the leading UK chef Ashley Palmer-Watts led a team of chefs and restaurateurs on a successful sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. And in September a team of senior food industry executives trekked across some of the most unhospitable terrain in the world in the Tanzanian Highlands.
Cosine and Barfoots of Botley, also showed incredible support for Food for Good in 2013 by staging their very own fundraising balls.
About Farm Africa
Farm Africa supports farmers living at subsistence level, constantly at risk of crop failure, to build food and income security so that they can grow a better and reliable future for their families.
By focusing on ‘climate smart’ agricultural and forestry techniques, building market links and adding value to production, Farm Africa unleashes the entrepreneurial abilities of the farmers and rural communities they work with.
This is the time to turn challenge into opportunity for African farmers. Farm Africa believes passionately that smallholders can and will play a key role in achieving rural prosperity in Africa.
