CHEFS' NIGHT OUT RAISES £100,000 FOR TY HAFAN

A unique charity event where fifteen of Wales' finest chefs cooked together under one roof, in one kitchen and for one night only has raised £100,000 for Ty Hafan children's hospice.

The first of its kind in Wales, Chefs’ Night Out brought together top Welsh chefs to cook for 150 guests at Cardiff’s Holland House.

With five Michelin stars and eight AA rosettes to their names, chefs including James Sommerin from The Crown at Whitebrook, Stephen Terry from The Hardwick and Cardiff chefs Grady Atkins of Le Gallois and Anand George of The Mint and Mustard, each created a four-course menu to delight the guests on their tables, which included Admiral’s CEO Henry Engelhardt and Peter Griffiths, CEO of Principality Building Society.

The chefs, with the help of their restaurants and suppliers, donated their time, food, wine and waiting staff to support the cause, as did a number of local businesses who pledged their services free of charge to help put on the event including host venue Holland House, Blindspot Design, freshbaked PR, Cardiff Printing Company, Flowers with a Twist, Hartley Willprint and Top Table Catering Hire.

Organised by friends Huw Edwards and David Loosemore, the idea for Chefs’ Night Out came from a similar event held in London and organised by Chris Corbin; the man who transformed The Ivy, Le Caprice, J Sheekey and The Wolseley into London’s hottest eateries.

Huw said: “Chefs’ Night Out has exceeded our expectations and we’re overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone involved in making this event happen. It seemed a crazy idea to begin with – bringing together fifteen of Wales’ finest chefs, all in the same kitchen and each cooking a different four course meal. However, tonight has proved that the idea wasn’t so crazy after all and we are delighted to have raised such a huge sum of money for such a worthwhile cause.

“Of course, a big thank you goes to our chefs and their restaurants and suppliers who generously donated the fantastic selection of food and wine that was enjoyed, as well as to event manager Seth Oliver for his efforts in making the evening a success. Many of the chef’s involved have visited Tŷ Hafan and were inspired by the bravery of the children and their families and the standard of comfort and support provided to them.”

Table sales and raffle money contributed to the final sum raised, together with the proceeds of a unique auction held before the evening. The auction invited each of the chefs to cook dinner for 10 people at their homes in a bid to generate further funds. Grady Atkins of Le Gallois and James Sommerin of the Crown at Whitebrook raised £5,000 and £5,200 respectively from the auction, whilst Mint and Mustard’s Anand George raised the largest sum of the group, £15,000, all of which was added to the funds raised elsewhere to be donated directly to Tŷ Hafan.

The south Wales based children’s hospice was chosen to benefit from the event because of organiser David Loosemore’s personal connection with the charity. The director of boutique property developer Loosemore Home’s beautiful daughter Isabella was diagnosed at age eight months with a rare, life-limiting brain disorder. He and his wife, Ruth, were told Isabella would not live past the age of three. Now aged four, Isabella and her family, have benefited greatly from the help of Tŷ Hafan.

David says: “Tŷ Hafan has given my wife and I tremendous support over the last four years. Isabella often stays at the hospice and is given the most wonderful care. Tŷ Hafan provides love, care and support for the children and their families absolutely free of charge. I wanted to do something to help other families and their life-limited children through the work of Tŷ Hafan. This event was setup for one reason only, to raise money for this fantastic cause.

“We are humbled by the generosity of our guests. This was definitely dinner with a difference as guests didn’t know until the evening which chef would be cooking their food and what style of food they would be eating. It was a memorable occasion and something new for Wales. We hope that it becomes an annual event so that even more money can be raised for Tŷ Hafan in the future.”

Grady Atkins of Le Gallois added: “It was great to be cooking in a kitchen with so many of Wales’s finest chefs and despite it getting extremely hot at times, we all managed to get our food out on time and to a high standard. Tŷ Hafan is a fantastic cause and the whole experience was a very memorable and humbling one for all of the chefs involved. “As a father of two, my youngest only two months, I really related to David's heartfelt speech. You look at your kids, giving thanks they are well, but knowing that at any time they could be taken away from you. That is life, which makes me appreciate them all the more and also makes me empathise strongly with the turmoil the Loosemore family is going through. I also can see that Tŷ Hafan has breathed new life into that family and their support for the Loosemores and other families in the same situation is unparalleled”.

For the last ten years Tŷ Hafan has been helping life-limited children, young people and their families make the most of the time they have left together. Life limiting conditions are those which mean that the child or young person is not expected to reach nineteen years of age.

Owain Cassidy, head of marketing and communications at Tŷ Hafan said: “Not only is Tŷ Hafan a home from home, providing specialist palliative care, but it also offers a much needed source of strength, respite and support for families. From diagnosis to bereavement and beyond it takes its support right into the heart of the family home”.

But quality care comes at a cost. Not being part of the NHS, Tŷ Hafan receives no guaranteed statutory funding and relies almost entirely on the generosity of donors and supporters to raise the £3m needed every year and inevitably that cost will rise.

Owain continued: “Chefs’ Night Out was a fantastic occasion and a first for Wales. It was great to have the most talented Welsh chefs under one roof for the night making exquisite food and we are extremely grateful to David and Huw for making this event happen. “We’re indebted to the chefs and their restaurants who have kindly donated their time, expertise, food and staff for this unique event and we’re immensely thankful to the guests that supported the event; their generosity was truly remarkable”.

For further information on this press release, please contact freshbaked PR at pr@freshbaked.co.uk. freshbaked PR is a Cardiff based public relations agency which represents a number of private and public sector organisations in the Cardiff, Swansea and Bristol business communities, as well as Newport in south Wales, home of golf’s 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort Hotel. For clients based in Cardiff PR agency services are provided from the Head Office in The Maltings.