£41,492 raised for ShelterBox at charity dinner

On Friday 8 April, hospitality professionals, amateurs and celebrities from Helping Hands & Pans joined forces for a fundraising dinner in aid of Cornwall’s ShelterBox and its Ukraine Crisis Appeal.   

Cornwall Cooks for Ukraine

The event saw Cornish hospitality industry peers – suppliers, farmers, local businesses, and chefs – come together to host a special evening for 140 guests at Tregone Barn, St Issey. Compared by Daphne Skinnard of BBC Radio Cornwall, and featuring a live auction, we hoped the dinner would raise £25,000 – so to achieve over £41,000 is just phenomenal. All funds will be used for ShelterBox’s indispensable emergency shelter and aid distribution programme in Ukraine.  

The superstar chefs

A line-up of some of the South West’s best chefs included Nathan Outlaw (Outlaw’s), Emily Scott (Restaurant Emily Scott), Paul Ripley (Behind the Bike Sheds), our very own Stephane Delourme, Andy Tuck (St Kew Inn), Jude Kereama (Kota) and Stuart Pate (Outlaw’s).  

Working together to curate the menu, the evening’s feast featured the likes of hay-smoked salmon with ember roasted bisque & tapioca ocean crisps; chickpea and cheddar fritters and chicken Kyiv stuffed with wild and black garlic, served alongside morel-stuffed chicken wings. To finish there was Kyiv cake made with hazelnuts, vanilla, and chocolate creams.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you

The evening was made possible by the kind support of businesses local and farther afield who donated produce and or auction prizes – including: Tarquin’s, St Austell Brewery, Enotria&Coe, Ellis Wines, Matthew Stevens, Total Produce, Philip Warren, Creedy Carver, Severn & Wye, Loch Duart, Forest Produce, Butchers Bakehouse, Origin Coffee, Daphne Skinnard, Jethro Jackson, The Goring, Wavehunters, BJ Press, JH AV, Chocolarder, Trewithen Dairy, White Cloud Laundry, Robert Welch, Focus IT, Blue Radish, Exmoor Caviar and Wings of St Mawes, Gary Dutton and the Rick Stein team.   

Ian Fitzgerald of Helping Hands & Pans says: 

“The events in Ukraine have touched us all and we were so grateful, but not in the least surprised, for the alacrity that friends, colleagues, our local community came together to stage a fundraiser. ‘Helping Hands and Pans’ is a simple idea. It is about donating time, irrespective of experience or industry background, to put on events to benefit worthy causes. We chose to support the Cornish based charity ShelterBox and their Ukraine crisis work and were delighted to see tickets sell out within minutes. Thank you, Cornwall, for your generosity!” 

Keep an eye out for more Helping Hands & Pans events in the future.