CONSCIENTIOUS students and staff at Rugby College’s hospitality department have cooked up a way to support a Rugby homelessness centre by donating hundreds of ready-to-eat meals.
Students studying hospitality and catering at the college came up with a plan to use surplus ingredients from their daily cooking to make meals for the homeless.
They have been making hot meals at the college which are then frozen and delivered to charity Hope4’s Hope Centre in Newbold Road.
More than 40 Level 1 and Level 2 students have been involved in the project so far – with the college donating around 50 meals a week to the centre.
Alan Clark, course lecturer at Rugby College, said: “In order for us to assess the students, we have to order in a wide, varied selection of food for them to work with and cook.
“Before Covid-19 we would have run our restaurant at lunchtime in order to use up the excess food, but instead we have been able to donate meals to support the incredible work they do at Hope4.
“We are regularly in contact with the team at Hope4 to see what they need, so we can help them to meet the increasing demand for their services.
“The students have been producing a range of meals for the centre, and the only limitation we have really is that it has to be freezable.
“So far we’ve donated dishes such as ratatouille, pumpkin curry, vegetable curry, lentil soup, and tomato soup. If we make it as part of the course, we’ll be donating it to Hope4.
“The initiative is being driven by the students and it’s great that they are committing to making a positive impact on their local community.”
Adi Robinson, the Hope Centre’s Service Delivery Manager, said: “We are so grateful that the college reached out to us at the Hope Centre. The opportunity of this partnership comes at a crucial time as we head into the winter period.
“The pandemic has impacted on our previous model as we have had to temporarily suspend our normal food provision delivered by our fantastic volunteer teams, and had to adapt our service offer to ensure that our clients are supported as best and as safely as we can during these challenging times.
“Many clients are safe in temporary accommodation as part of the ‘every one in’ campaign, so having the frozen meal options enables us to issue food packs to clients who have the facility to reheat the food back at their accommodation.
“This is really valued by the clients as it enables them to have choice and retain their independence.”
