Guests at the Cumbria Food Awards dug deep to support foodbanks around the county.
A give a note charity draw at the independent awards, held last month at Kendal College, raised £1,585 which has been divided between foodbanks in Barrow, Upper Eden, Carlisle and King’s in Kendal.
The second annual awards, held in association with Caterite and hosted by BBC MasterChef winner Irini Tzortzoglou, took place in front of an audience of more than 150 finalists, sponsors, judges and special guests. Trophies were presented in 16 categories, including three special awards.
Prizes for the give a note draw were provided by Caterite, Irini Tzortzoglou, Shed 1 Gin, Cranstons, the Leeu Collection and Henrock at Linthwaite House, Hawkshead Relish, H&H Group and The Factory Tap.
Items and experiences on offer included half a Cumbrian lamb, a Greek street food cooking experience at Caterite’s demo kitchen hosted by Irini Tzortzoglou and an overnight stay at the award-winning Linthwaite House near Bowness-on-Windermere including dinner at Simon Rogan’s Henrock.
Hazel Mullen, of Upper Eden Foodbank, said: “There will be many families and individuals in our area who will be able to benefit from this kindness and generosity of others. UEFB and they are truly grateful and it means that something good, like community awareness for others, can come from something difficult and challenging like a cost of living crisis.”
Awards organisers Lindsay Molloy and Michaela Robinson-Tate were delighted with the total raised.
Lindsay said: “We’re very grateful to everyone in the room for backing our county’s foodbanks with a line-up of super prizes and generous donations. Not only was the evening a fantastic celebration of our hospitality industry but we were able to make a difference in our community.”
More than 1,400 nominations from members of the public and entries from businesses were received for the awards, which were decided by a panel of independent judges.
Canapés and a two-course dinner were prepared, cooked and served by students from the college, which is regarded as one of the country’s leading providers of hospitality training.
Headline sponsor and wholesaler Caterite provided the ingredients for dinner, with reception and table drinks supplied by its wine business, Grapevine Wine Services.
The reception was sponsored by Eden District Council, the event’s associate partner and grocer Booths provided the canapé ingredients. The free-to-enter awards are supported by media partner Cumbria Crack, Patron Simon Rogan and category sponsors.
