Leading restaurants invite diners to support Farm Africa appeal

08 March 2019

Fine dining hotspots Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Mere Restaurant & Bar by Monica Galetti are among the leading restaurants inviting diners to support farmers in Africa by adding a £1 per head donation to the charity Farm Africa to their bill.

Farm Africa’s annual Dine for Good campaign kicks off today, International Women’s Day. Donations will go to the charity’s Coffee is Life appeal and the UK Government will match diners’ donations pound for pound.

The funds raised will support Farm Africa projects across eastern Africa, and the matched funding unlocked from the UK government will directly fund a Farm Africa project that will give women in Kanungu in western Uganda the opportunity to make a decent living from coffee farming. A gift of £11 could train one farmer to produce high-quality coffee.

The restaurants participating are:

·        Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in Knightsbridge, London

·        The Greenhouse in Mayfair, London

·        Mere by Monica Galetti in Fitzrovia, London

·        Moor Hall in Aughton, Lancashire

·        L’Ortolan in Reading, Berkshire

·        Salt by Paul Foster in Stratford-upon-Avon

Farm Africa’s Corporate Partnerships Manager Charlotte Senior commented:

“We’re delighted to have such a fantastic range of restaurants throughout the UK supporting Farm Africa’s Coffee is Life appeal through our Dine for Good campaign. International Women’s Day is a fitting day for the launch as the matched funding from the UK government will empower women so that they can stand on an equal footing with men in the Ugandan coffee industry.

“This is important because when women are held back, so are their children. When you empower a woman, you empower a household. A simple increase in women’s earning ability leads to children being able to go to school and families are able to lift themselves out of living on the brink of crisis.”

Ashley Palmer-Watts, Chef Director at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal commented:

“I have supported Farm Africa for a number of years and I have seen first-hand how funds raised have impacted local communities in eastern Africa for the long term. Dine for Good is a simple and effective way for the restaurant industry to give back.”

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

 “The Coffee is Life appeal will empower women across Uganda to build their own farming businesses.

“UK aid and Farm Africa are working together to give these women the training and skills they need to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. 

 “Through UK Aid Match the government will double all public donations to the appeal.”