The Health Tree Foundation The Health Tree Foundation

Teams go head to head in the kitchen for charity

NHS staff and bankers went head-to-head in the kitchen to help raise more than £5,000 for charity.

A team from Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG) and another from Barclays battled it out in a culinary competition event, known as Devil’s Kitchen, at Grimsby’s Humber Royal Hotel on November 26.

A dining experience with a difference was created with guests being welcomed with a bed photo booth, operation games, and body part quizzes before being served a sumptuous three-course meal prepared, cooked and delivered by the management teams from both organisations.

The aim of the event was to introduce the new identity for the Trust’s charitable funds, the Health Tree Foundation, whose vision is to provide a community with the best healthcare in the UK.

Devil’s Kitchen was the first large contribution to the Health Tree Foundation’s #Big Thank You NHS campaign, which aims to fund wishes put forward by patients, visitors and staff members across the Trust’s services.

Eighty diners, which included clients, colleagues, hospital volunteers and local business professionals, watched the chefs’ efforts live on a screen as they competed against the clock to prepare starters, main courses and desserts, with scores awarded by the guests.

The Barclays team were victorious on the night, securing the highest score by a tiny margin despite great efforts from NHS staff, who had a surgery theme and a photo booth ‘bed’ for guests to take comedy snaps and remember the event.

Wendy Drake, premier relationship manager at Barclays, said: “It was a fantastic event for everyone involved and winning was just the icing on the cake, even though it was by a whisker.

“It’s not every day you get to have a break from the norm and try your hand at something as unique as this – and all for charity.

“We were delighted to support the Health Tree Foundation and it was a pleasure to work alongside the staff from the NHS.

“It was a really close call for the top spot and everyone really entered into the spirit of Devil’s Kitchen.”

To date, more than 3,000 guests have dined at a Devil’s Kitchen event, which was created by the Hull and East Yorkshire (HEY) Smile Foundation and has now spread nationally, with cities including Newcastle, York, Sheffield, Liverpool, Glasgow and Manchester embracing the idea.

Smile Foundation is a collaborative charity that works hard to support smaller charities and community projects. Its mission is to champion and enhance local giving to enrich communities.

Dr Jim Whittingham, chairman at NLaG, said: “It was a very enjoyable way to raise money for The Health Tree Foundation.

“We are incredibly grateful for the guests’ generous donations and how the charity was received, with many heart-warming experiences of how the Trust has touched lives being shared on the evening.”

Victoria Winterton, partnerships manager for The Health Tree Foundation, said: “We were delighted with the fundraising efforts, the Devil’s Kitchen event really gave us a brilliant opportunity to publicly launch the charity.

“This was the first of a series of Devil’s Kitchens that we will be running in partnership with The HEY Smile Foundation over the next year and businesses are welcome to put themselves forward to experience the heat in the kitchen for a great local cause.”

She added: “We can’t thank the Humber Royal Hotel enough for their support, they were wonderfully generous with their expertise and resources to make the event the success it was.”

For more information about how your company can compete in the Devil’s Kitchen, visit www.devils-kitchen.co.uk

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