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Money raised by Taste Guernsey sponsors ABN AMRO will cover the cost of kitchen equipment for the Caritas community café in Mill Street.
At the Seafront Sundays in May and August, ABN AMRO Managing Director Graham Thoume and director Andy Graham prepared and cooked two super-sized dishes and sold portions to the public with all the money being donated to Caritas Community Charitable Trust. Over the Taste Guernsey Food Festival last month, which ABN AMRO exclusively sponsored, the pair was involved in a number of cooking demonstrations and all donations collected from visitors to the week-long festival were donated to Caritas.
"We want to be active sponsors which is why we are so involved in the Seafront Sundays and in the Taste Guernsey Food Festival. It’s important to us that we can support the whole ethos of the initiative which is to promote the diversity of local products," said Mr Thoume.
"Last year, we raised money for three different charities but this year, Caritas was the sole beneficiary. Their passion and commitment to changing the lives of young people in the island was extraordinary and we know the £2,500 raised by ABN AMRO will make a real difference."
Caritas, which was founded in 2007, aims to establish a residential community that will support young people in difficulty, distress or need as well as those in the youth justice system.
The charity is a Church of England Deanery initiative. It originally started by establishing a market garden, but last year opened a community café in Mill Street. The produce from the market garden is sold at the Farmers’ Market in St Martin’s, and is also used extensively in the cooking in the café.
"Establishing the café was a significant outlay for Caritas as a charity and we have been looking for sponsorship to cover the cost of the kitchen equipment. The money very generously raised by ABN AMRO will pay for a third of the cost," said Richard Bellinger from Caritas.
Reverend Bellinger said all of the kitchen equipment, which includes a hob, oven, deep fat fryer, extractor fan, griddle, fridge and freezer, needed to be industrial quality.
"We are immensely grateful to ABN AMRO, not only for their generosity of money but also for the time their team committed to during the Taste Guernsey Food Festival."
In addition to the funds, Caritas was given ABN AMRO’s space at the June Seafront Sunday.
"We were able to raise additional funds by selling our own vegetarian burgers but more importantly we were able to raise our profile so that islanders understand more about Caritas and its work," said Reverend Bellinger.
