 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Whole School Meals visited by School Food Trust
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Stephanie Hayman (Chairman) / Julia Hallett, Chief Executive Officer
Whole School Meals Ltd
01304 611010
07800 813706
steph@wholeschoolmeals.co.uk
www.wholeschoolmeals.co.uk
Deal, Kent, 11 March 2007
Local school dinners company Whole School Meals was among Kent caterers visited
by the School Food Trust last Friday. St Mary's Primary School hosted the
visit, where the children polished off a healthy and delicious lunch-time meal.
Invited by Kent County Council, the School Food Trust visitors were on a
fact-finding mission to see examples of good practice in school meals services.
Whole School Meals' Operations Manager, Julia Hallett, and Chairman, Stephanie
Hayman, were on hand to explain how Whole School Meals was created as a
community business, with the sole aim of producing nutritious and appetising
meals for our local school children.
Whole School Meals has attracted national attention, with press features and a
case study in a new publication "Healthy Eating in Schools". Chairman Stephanie
Hayman commented: " Children in 21 local schools now have the opportunity to
have a healthy lunch, with traditional favourites such as Shepherd's Pie and
Roast Dinners alternating with more modern dishes such as Mexican Bean Wraps.
Our dishes contain many hidden healthy ingredients such as tasty vegetables
blended in a tomato base sauce, and most of our vegetables are fresh and
produced in Kent. I know my son is receiving a balanced, nourishing meal at
school now and that helps him concentrate and improves his ability to learn and
to enjoy school. And I'm certainly not missing the task of putting together a
packed lunch! I highly recommend it to parents and to children, so if you
haven't tried the new school dinners yet, why not give it a try."
More information from www.wholeschoolmeals.co.uk <http://www.wholeschoolmeals.co.uk> or email steph@wholeschoolmeals.co.uk <mailto:steph@wholeschoolmeals.co.uk>
Local School Meal Company is awarded grant by prestigious River Café!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Jane Langstaff, Director (Marketing) / Julia Hallett, Chief Executive Officer
Whole School Meals Ltd
01304 611010
07800 813706
steph@wholeschoolmeals.co.uk
www.wholeschoolmeals.co.uk
Deal, Kent, 21 February 2007
Whole School Meals Limited, the local school meals company formed by local
parents, governors and business people, and owned by 21 schools in Deal & Sandwich who benefit from its success, has been awarded a £1600 grant by ‘Cooks in Schools.’ This charity was founded by the prestigious ‘River Café’ where Jamie Oliver did part of his early training.
The Cooks in Schools funding scheme was set up to raise the standard of catering
across schools in the UK, to improve children’s long-term health.
Whole School Meals will use the grant for two purposes:
1.To further improve the training and skills of cooks in the production of the
new menus, which have been created following consultation with children within
the 21 schools the company serves.
2.To allow parents to taste the meals provided by Whole School Meals Limited, so
they can see for themselves what drastic changes have been made to school
catering in the last 6 months. All food produced is now freshly prepared, home
cooked, nutritious and mainly locally (Kent) produced, supporting local
producers, schools, workers, children and the community as a whole.
Chairman Stephanie Hayman says ‘We need to build on the success already achieved by Whole school Meals Limited. Meal taster sessions allow parents to sample for themselves the good quality
meals. We feel it is crucial that children eat a hot lunchtime meal. Headteachers advise that children who do eat wholesome meals at lunch time are
better behaved, and achieve more academically. We are getting daily messages of support from parents whose children are
thriving on the new meals.’
Helen Rowarth, a local parent with three children says ‘ It’s great that my boys are trying different dishes that are locally produced and
home cooked, with their friends in a proper social dining environment.’
Ruth Roberts, mother of two, says ‘It’s great being able to get up in the morning and spend quality time with my
children before the school day, instead of having to dash to the all night
garage the night before for rolls and rush around in the morning making packed
lunches!’
We are calling on local parents to come along to the next meal taster session at
your child’s school because we believe that only the best is good enough for growing
children and we remain devoted to improving their long-term health.
INNOVATION IN THE SCHOOL KITCHEN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Stephanie Hayman
Whole School Meals Ltd
01304 362563
07960 471427
steph@wholeschoolmeals.co.uk <mailto:sa.Hayman@virgin.net>
www.wholeschoolmeals.co.uk
Deal, Kent, 5 July 2006
A new company will deliver the school meals service to 21 schools in East Kent
from September. With a unique constitution, and majority ownership by local
schools, the company has been created by parents, governors, and business
people to reverse the decline in school meals standards and provide healthy,
home-cooked meals using fresh, locally (Kent) sourced and seasonal produce.
Last September, Stephanie Hayman, a determined mum and parent governor at Warden
House Primary School in Deal, put a proposal to Headteachers in the local towns
and villages. She had learnt that the contract for school meals provision in
the County was to go out to competitive tender in 2006 and saw an opportunity
to create a community-based company to bring the school meals service back into
the hands of schools and parents.
With the Headteachers’ blessing, Stephanie publicly invited anyone who was willing to put time and
energy into making it happen to join her in a voluntary capacity to create the
company and bid for the contract. In due course, this unique company, 75% of
which is owned by the schools it will serve, was created. Its constitution, as
a School Company, enables profits to be returned to the school community and
ensures that the control and direction of the company is determined by its main
shareholders - the schools.
Stephanie sums up the Company’s mission this way:
“Our Company has clear values that are incorporated into our Mission Statement.
We must be commercially viable in order to survive and thrive, and we intend to
achieve that viability by staying true to our purpose. We will always be a
company that provides great food for the children and supports their health and
well-being; that sources local produce whenever possible; that maintains the
highest professional standards including food hygiene and operational safety;
that values every member of staff and seeks to reward staff fairly and involve
them in the Company’s development; that remains close to the local community of schools, parents and
children and consults with them about our activities and key decisions.”
A key aspect of Whole School Meals Ltd’s mission is to find local sources for as much fresh produce as possible. The
Company intends to develop menus for school children around the seasonal
availability of local (Kent) produce and believe this could
have significant implications for small local farmers and growers.