LINCOLNSHIRE Regional Awards Winners

The WINNER

Urban Foundation Outreach Project

Lee Bowman founded Urban Foundation Outreach Project in March 2019.  A history in catering in the forces (but now living and working with his wife and family in the Lincolnshire Wolds market town of Horncastle) Lee was frustrated at seeing the amount of homeless in his local area, many suffering from mental illness issues ,with no hope or work.   Lee spearheaded and rallied a group of volunteers together, hired the local community centre kitchen and encouraged the homeless to train with him and his team to prepare, cook and serve delicious meals at a pop up kitchen held every Sunday evening 5-7pm.   Lee also trained and helped them achieve their Hygiene 2 Certificates  and all this with the purpose of gaining proper meaningful employment in the catering industry.  With surplus food donated from the national Co-operative supermarket and local independent artisan bakery & deli www.myersbakery.co.ok (as well as a host of other supporters and sponsors) Lee has been able to use local and locally produced food which would otherwise have gone to landfill, and use it to create stunning looking food (I am hoping to soon take my husband to a pop up Sunday meal very soon) but the reviews say it’s absolutely delicious! All this has been achieved through Lee and his team voluntarily and on top of a day job – and they have just started a second project this month in neighbouring Wolds Market town of Woodhall Spa.  Lee is such a humble and hardworking man and is so very keen to keep the momentum going and engaging with British Food Fortnight and throughout the year, his UFOP was an outstanding winner!  Lee is so keen to work with as many local food producers, farmers, agencies as he can to build on what he has achieved so far.

RUNNER UP

East Lindsey District Council

Lydia Rusling, Head of Organisational Improvement and Development and Interim Head of Economic Development at East Lindsey District Council, based in Manby near Louth in the Lincolnshire Wolds has a history of making things happen, being up until September 2019 the Chief Executive of VisitLincoln.  In her new role she fully engaged with her new team to actively promote British Food Fortnight throughout the Lincolnshire Wold market towns, promoting the local farmers markets, engaging with the existing traders and encouraging new food producers and creating a "voucher scheme” which local residents could use to get a discount from the local farmer/food producers.  

HIGHLY COMMENDED

St Botolph’s Church, Saxilby near Lincoln

David Turner is a churchwarden at St Botolph’s Church Saxilby and along with fellow churchwarden Shirley Davenport and their vicar, Revd Nicola Penn-Allison linked their Harvest Festival  and lunch (which fell  within British Food Fortnight on Sunday 22^nd September, to promote British Food Fortnight and Love British Food and here is what they told me:

 

"The lunch will be used to promote British Food Fortnight and the service will use an excellent Order of Service produced by the charity ‘Farming Community Network’ ( FCN).  We feel the Farming Community needs our support and prayers at this difficult time with the uncertainties of Brexit and the threat to their livelihoods.  All money raised at the service will go to this worthy charity.

 

This will be followed by a Coffee Morning on Wed 25^th September (10.00 – 11.30am) in our Church Hall when we will support the FCN and promote British Food Fortnight.  At this Coffee Morning we will sell of all surplus produce from the Harvest Festival and all money raised will go to FCN.

 

We hope to engage as many community groups as possible in the service and hopefully we can find someone to give an address.  The lunch will be focussed on British Food.  If you can offer any further suggestions we would be very grateful”.

Well the service was well attended and they raised £400.00 which was donated to Farming Community Network and all from a relatively small church group.  Well deserving of their certificate.

This Tuesday I was able to pop along to this month’s coffee morning and present them with their certificate, talk briefly about Love British Food and get a couple of pictures.  Revd Nicola Penn-Allison has asked me to keep in touch with her for next year and what can be achieved from now on.

LEICESTERSHIRE Regional Award Winners

WINNER

The Chaplaincy for the University of Leicester

Rosalind Henwood is the Chaplain for International Students at the University of Leicester and every week they host a "Welcome Wednesday” for the foreign students studying at the university.  The students are mainly Asian and Indian and to help them learn more of our culture and food, as well as settle into their "new home” Ros and her team of volunteers prepare local dishes for them to share and during British Food Fortnight they introduced them to some local food and told them about Love British Food.  This Wednesday I was able to join her and the students for a couple of hours to present them with their Winner award and spend more time explaining to Ros and the students about LBF and British Food Fortnight.  Ros and her team are very excited about engaging throughout next year with me and LBF to build on what she did this year and I am more than happy to do that.  I have already made suggestions for getting more out of the information on your website.  Lovely group of people and so keen to do their bit as much as possible.

RUNNER UP

Waterloo Cottage Farm, Great Oxenden, Leicestershire

Kirsty and her husband own and run Waterloo Cottage Farm on the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire border.  This delightful lady is so passionate about producing the best meat and vegetables to the highest standards on their small farm where they rear sustainably farmed Highland cattle, sheep and pigs with no antibiotics use.  All their animals are free range and slow grown and graze in paddocks surrounding their home and farmshop.  Inside the shop you will find fresh, quality meat butchered to make the most of each animal.  Other products are brought in adherence to their stringent ethical standards. 28 day matured, organic, pasture fed beef, pasture fed lamb and hogget, totally free range pigs, totally free range chickens, their own air dried charcuterie and pies. On top of this there is a wonderful selection of all local beers, wines and spirits as well as a growing selection of Adnams fine wines.  A local goat farmer milks her goats to make a delicious ice-cream and makes natural goat’s milk soap with her whey by-product.  All packaging in the shop is natural and ethical with a huge emphasis on sustainability, low impact on the environment and supporting other local small businesses.  I only had time to spend an hour in the company of this wonderful  lady – such a shame because her passion, drive and vision was so infectious!  I will make a point of popping down again for a shopping spree  in the near future – an hour away but an excuse for a day out!

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Dickinson and Morris, Melton Mowbray

Stephen Hallam is Managing Director of Dickinson and Morris (the famous pork pie makers in Melton Mowbray) and this Tuesday I popped down to their flagship shop Ye Olde Pork Pie Shop in the town centre of Melton Mowbray to present Stephen with his certificate.  Always a promoter of local and British food and multi award winning food producer, Stephen is a passionate supporter of the local food and farming community and plays an important part in raising the profile of local food and did engage with British Food Fortnight this year.