Some of Bristol’s finest chefs were on duty at breakfast clubs across the city’s schools last week as part of our Big Breakfast Week.
Our Big Breakfast Week campaign took place for the second year in October- and what a week it was!
20 top local chefs and foodies came together to highlight our work tackling child hunger by running cooking workshops in Breakfast Clubs across Bristol and Bath.
On the rota and cooking up exciting breakfasts for students, were Pony and Trap’s Josh Eggleton, Root Bristol’s Rob Howell, BOX-E’s Elliott Lidstone, Pump House’s Toby Gritten, Adrian Kirikmaa of St Monica Trust, Louise McCrimmon of Harvey Nichols, Oscar Davis of Yurt Lush, Felix Rayment of Bird in Hand, and cookbook authors Genevieve Taylor and Kalpna Woolf.
Says Chef Josh Eggleton: “This is my second year working on the Big Breakfast Week with Fareshare South West, one of a few throughout the year. They do amazing, and very important work repurposing food that would otherwise be put to land fill and it is a pleasure to be able to work with them.
The Big Breakfast Week is a lovely way to engage with the local community and get out of the kitchen and work with food in a slightly different context – especially as all the children we make breakfast for are so excited to eat what we are cooking.”
The weeklong campaign is part of the charity’s wider ‘No Bristol Child to Go Hungry’ initiative and is set to raise awareness of the issue of food poverty as well as the impact hunger can have on a child as they attempt to conduct a school day.
Says Headteacher, Lucy Lang, from Fair Furlong Primary School, Bristol: “When children arrive at school hungry they can struggle to concentrate, feel tired and lack the energy needed to take on a school day successfully. Being able to provide a breakfast club with tasty, nutritious food for every child that needs it before the day begins has fundamentally improved the outcomes and wellbeing of many children within our school.”
Says Julian Mines, CEO here at FareShare South West: “Child hunger is a city-wide and growing issue. Our work with Breakfast Clubs is a vital way to ensure all children in Bristol are given the best opportunity to succeed. However, this is only one aspect to the food support we deliver into the community through various groups, projects and charities, with the child at the centre. With significant quantities of surplus food available to us we can use that as an immediate solution to this issue of food poverty that faces our city.
We’re so grateful to the host of amazing chefs who have come on board with our campaign this year and we hope the campaign will both raise funds and awareness of the issue as well as reinforce the positivity that breakfast clubs bring to school life. I’m sure the children who are set to experience these very special breakfasts can’t wait.”
To find out more about FareShare South West or to establish a monthly donation to continue to support breakfast clubs across the year, visit: www.faresharesouthwest.org.uk/bigbreakfast
