Our treat: college students develop a taste for charity

Scottish Federation of Chefs'  Marie-Clare James ... and son!
Scottish Federation of Chefs’ Marie-Clare James … and son!

Edinburgh College serves up a treat and raises £885 for St Columba’s Hospice

More than 500 people tickled their tastebuds at Edinburgh College’s first food and drink festival last week – and they raised £885 for the college’s charity of the year, St Columba’s Hospice.

The treat food festival brought 20 local food and drink producers to the college, who offered a wide range of samples to guests. To name just a few, stallholders included Black & Gold rapeseed oil, Chillilicious chilli chutneys, dips and sauces, The Marshmallow Lady’s homemade flavoured marshmallows as well as a selection of Invararity wines, Thistly Cross ciders and Great Grog Scottish beers.

Edinburgh College’s hospitality students used their skills to create and serve complimentary hot meals, as well as produce breads, cakes and chocolates, which were available to taste and buy. Top chefs including Neil Forbes of Edinburgh’s Café St Honoré (pictured below) gave live cooking demonstrations and a charity fundraising prize draw was also held.

Treat 2

In total, the prize draw and donations from the public, students and staff, helped the festival raise £885 for St Columba’s Hospice, the college’s chosen charity of the year. All the money raised at treat and at other Edinburgh College charity events this year will go towards completing and running the charity’s new hospice, which will allow them to continue to provide the best possible palliative care to their patients and support their family and friends for generations to come. The building is almost complete and St Columba’s are preparing to open the doors of the new building later this spring.

Carol Fyfe, head of tourism and hospitality at Edinburgh College, said: “Treat has been a great shop window to show off our incredibly talented students and staff as well as create links with local Edinburgh businesses, restaurants and cafés. We would like to thank everyone who came along to support this event and for the great total that we raised for St Columba’s Hospice”.

The treat food festival will be taking place again in 2015.

 

Food, glorious food … be prepared for a treat!

Neil Forbes chef

Love food? Granton Campus Hub is the place to be this afternoon when Edinburgh College holds treat, a fabulous Food and Drink Festival from 4 – 8pm.

As well as showcasing the skills of College Hospitality students and promoting course programmes, the free Treat event also offers an opportunity to raise funds for St Columba’s Hospice, the College’s chosen charity of the year.

Among the highlights on offer are live coking demonstrations from top chefs, mouth-watering produce from local stallholders, free samples, prize draws and much, much more.

Carol Fyfe, Head of the Tourism and  Hospitality Academy at Edinburgh College, said: “treat not only offers an excellent learning opportunity for our students but also offers visitors and food enthusiasts top food tips and tasting opportunities from some of the best chefs in the country. All money raised will go to our charity of the year, St Columba’s Hospice, which is another fantastic reason to come along to our food and drink festival”.

Top chef Neil Forbes, of Edinburgh’s Cafe Saint Honore, (pictured above) will headline at today’s event. He said: “I’m delighted to be taking part in the treat festival at Edinburgh College. At a young age I was inspired to get behind the stove because of my granny’s soup! These early experiences of family cooking have influenced me throughout my career and I hope my demo at treat will inspire others to create their own food memories”.

Top tips? Free food? Go on, treat yourself!

treat textOUTLINES

 

Admission to treat is FREE although a charitable donation of £2 will be gratefully accepted!

Taking shape: De Vere ‘village urban resort’ rises over Crewe Toll

de vere

The Crewe Toll skyline is being transformed by the De Vere group’s ‘village urban resort’ complex, which is expected to open this autumn.

Work is progressing well on the new £20 million 
development, which will feature a 120-room hotel, a health and leisure complex (including a 20m swimming pool, a ‘gastro-pub’ bar restaurant and a Starbucks cafe) and a conference centre facility for up to 200 delegates.

de-vere-crewe toll