...and another thing

i was going to include this as one of my happy things, but it's quite important and i felt it deserved it's own post. so. a few weeks back i was asked if i'd like to do some good in the world, and donate some of my time for charity. i am allowed two charity days on top of my annual leave at work, and knowing i could use one of those days (i have no holiday left you see), i jumped at the chance; i've been looking for a way to help the community with the skills that i do have (not many), that don't involve me being out in the cold (always sick), or participating in anything athletic (it's me). and this is just the thing.

i am going to work with the school of wok and a host of other volunteers to help host a large-scale cookery event;

wok for 1000.

[from the press release] food insecurity and food wastage are two major issues in the uk, affecting both businesses as well as hundreds of thousands of individuals and families each day. jezza pang's school of wok is hoping to help raise awareness of these two issues, and encourage both discussion and problem solving among local businesses, during the school’s very first large-scale cookery event, taking place in borough market on tuesday november 1st, 2016.

following on from the success of the school’s corporate social responsibility to cook double the portion, then donating half of their meal to local food banks, school of wok is taking the next step with wok for 1000. businesses are encouraged to sign up in teams of ten, and will then work together with other local companies to produce a delicious meal to enjoy after the class, along with 1000 or more additional meals which will then be delivered and distributed across the capital to local food banks with the help of new gastronomic delivery service supper.

the event itself will include the following:

* a three-hour hands on cookery class under the supervision of jeremy pang and school of wok expert chefs

* a sit down and enjoy a delicious meal, for each participating team to enjoy

* prizes, goody bags and give-aways from participating sponsors

* following on from the lunch, 200 or so charity beneficiaries will also be invited to borough to enjoy the freshly cooked meal. participants will be welcome to stay and volunteer here as well.

who it benefits:

places will be sold from £100 per person, and all profits will be donated to charity plan zheroes: working to achieve zero food waste and hunger. plan zheroes utilise a unique social media platform to link surplus food to those that need it – an obvious solution to two important social issues. the idea behind wok for 1000 is threefold:

* to build awareness of the on-going issue of food poverty across our capital,

* to raise awareness about food waste, and ways we can work to use this to address the issue above,

* and to highlight importance of csr amongst any and all businesses, and the positive impact it can make within a community. corporate social responsibility, according to forbes, has been proven to lead to innovative ideas, cost savings, brand differentiation, long-term thinking, customer engagement and employee engagement; beneficial to not only local communities, but to the business itself.

so, i'm going to help prep the food. i'm going to peel potatoes and julienne carrots and set the table, and anything else i can possibly do to help these amazing guys raise this much-needed money for a fantastic charity, as well as help feed as many people as i can. i'm not saying you should join me, but it would be great if you could. for more info on how to get involved, please contact dee at the school of wok, at dee@schoolofwok.co.uk - it's good to do good!