Star date: 21st June 2020

CHEF COUNCILLOR SERVES UP MEALS ON WHEELS TREATS

Walkden North councillor and chef, Sammie Bellamy, began baking cakes and cooking meals at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis for a few dozen vulnerable people in the community. But the scheme has since mushroomed to 1,500 meals a week cooked and delivered by an army of volunteers, and leading to the creation of a huge meals on wheels service, For The Love Of Food Salford.

Full details here...

What began as a local councillor helping out some people in the community has since mushroomed into a huge operation, preparing and delivering around 1,500 meals a week to vulnerable people all over Salford.

"At the beginning of the pandemic I started baking cakes for friends, family and old people's homes but I realised there were many people who couldn't cook and that were struggling" recalls Walkden North councillor and chef, Sammie Bellamy "Some children and families weren't getting a cooked meal, so I started helping my friend Noel Goulding from the Veterans' Food Company cook and prepare meals for veterans and a church in Broughton on a Saturday.

"This then lead to me setting up For The Love of Food Salford, to help people who needed that extra support of a cooked meal" she explains "As the weeks went on, from cooking one day a week on a Saturday I started to prepare, cook and chill meals on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, delivering them across Salford.

"To start with, we were doing around two to three hundred meals a week delivered mainly to Broughton, Walkden and Little Hulton but those figures have now grown to around 1,500 meals per week that are now being delivered right across Salford" she says.

For The Love of Food Salford has had support from big companies including Morrisons, Tesco, Lidl, Quality Save, Batleys and Bookers, with more ingredients donated by FareShare... "All our meals are like Ready Steady Cook as we don't know from one day to the next what ingredients we're going to get, so we all have to think on our feet about what we are going to prepare each day" she enthuses.

The scheme is also funded by the Lighthouse Church in Eccles, CVS and a GoFundMe page which has gathered donations of over £700 from the community.*

Sammie now has an efficient team in place which includes fifteen drivers, staff from the Buile Hill Banqueting Suite and Worsley Old Hall (and their kitchens) plus lots of help from chefs and other volunteers...."I couldn't have done any of this without them" says Sammie "They all have hearts of gold."

This week, Sammie was recognised by the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester "for outstanding activity and contribution to the community" and "for the altruistic acts of thoughtfulness and kindness during the C-19 Pandemic"...

In typical style Sammie responded on Facebook, "I haven't cooked and delivered food for people across Salford during this pandemic to get recognition but because I care, and I believe no one should be without a cooked meal.

"So I would like to dedicate this to all the wonderful people who have helped and supported me on this journey and the supermarkets, the chefs and drivers and all the volunteers across our city who go above and beyond to support our communities..." she added

Now, even after the pandemic is over, For The Love of Food Salford is set to continue... "Going forward I would like to turn this into a meals on wheels service as a social enterprise or cic", Sammie concludes. Meanwhile there's thousands of meals to prepare as the altruistic enterprise grows and grows...

To donate to Sammie's GoFundMe appeal – click here