26/02/24
Cook For Good!
On Friday 9th February, Quinn London kicked off the year with our new corporate partnership with social enterprise charity, Cook for Good.
Quinn have pledged to take part in 4 events this year to take part in the Cook to Serve programme which the company will be cooking a 3-course meal and serving (and cleaning up afterwards) for up to 60-70 residents.
Our Property Services division teamed up with Peabody for this event as many of our company colleagues and clients have worked with each other via email for years but have not had the first opportunity to put faces to their names. As part of the team building experience, the brief was to create a Chinese menu in keeping with the theme of Chinese New Year, complete with handwritten positive notes within fortune cookies and sung two residents ‘Happy Birthday’ to end the day.
Several of our volunteers expressed that they had second thoughts when knowing the menu as it was their first time preparing Chinese food however tying the apron strings, wearing the chefs hat and entering the professional kitchen made it all real and many learned how to make Sticky Sesame Chicken, Spring rolls and Vegetable Chow Mein all for the first time.
“When being show the menu and all the ingredients at 9:00am my first thought was how on how a on earth are we going to do this! My favourite moment was when somehow, it all came together at 12.15! and seeing the happy residents” – Quinn London Volunteer
Throughout the morning the kitchen volunteers were mentored and guided by professional chefs steering them with helpful tips and tricks to ensure that timings were correct, and the food was ready for service.
“These recipes are brilliant, I am going to try these out in my family” – Quinn London Volunteer
Cook for Good, are an incredible social enterprise charity who provide a safe space for communities to feel at home in and make lifelong friends over food. With the rising cost of living We understand that many people and families may not have the opportunity to dine out or have the luxury to order a take away on a Friday night and with organisations like Cook for Good have had a massive impact within the short few years of being on the estate have been a solid foundation of what defines a community.
Our real MVPs throughout the day were our very own Lynn Woodrow and Joel Hall who were awarded with a small memento to commemorate the day from the mentoring chefs!
Overall, the positive feedback and the smiles on residents faces made the entire day for filling and such a brilliant way to end the week on a positive high knowing that we can make a difference to peoples lives with the power of a meal. Thank you for letting us loose in the kitchens and allowing us to be part of this positive movement within the community and thank you to our Peabody clients and project teams who made this a special opportunity and a real team bonding experience we will not forget. We look forward to doing more events in the year with our other divisions and our fabulous clients…watch this space!
“The meal today beats any Chinese restaurant, hands down! I love coming to them, and there is a great community spirit here. I’ve made a lot of new friends. If I didn’t have these meals on a Friday, I would just be sitting at home.” – Resident feedback who attended the meal
“I would be unable to tell who was from Quinn London and from Peabody.” We call that a success!” – Cook for Good Chef Simone
