Compassionate TNT employees had the fundraising bit between their teeth when one of the UK’s top chefs cooked a tempting Tanzanian treat to help malnourished African youngsters.
Generous staff served up a recipe for survival for impoverished children in East Africa during a week-long drive to raise both funds and awareness levels to combat global hunger.
Tasty Tanzanian trio – TNT’s Melanie Haigh serves up the dish of the day with the aid of award-winning chef Andy Waters (right) and TNT Director of Operations Simon Harper.
Employees at the UK’s leading business-to-business delivery company in Atherstone produced some spicy results with former Michelin-starred chef Andy Waters, in their annual Fight Hunger campaign on behalf of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP),
Andy, who is just two weeks away from discovering if his Edmunds eatery is to win the national Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year, swapped his mouth-watering à la carte menu for a back to basics approach with authentic African ingredients - helping push TNT’s fundraising past the £35,000 mark in 2011.
Andy, Chef Patron at Edmunds in Brindley Place, Birmingham, worked wonders with rice, chickpeas and lentils, to reproduce a meal that provides essential nutrition to children who might otherwise perish in the harsh African climate.
“I’m delighted and thrilled to be helping TNT in its Fight Hunger campaign – it’s a privilege to be able to play a part in helping hungry kids get a vital daily meal that can potentially mean the difference between life and death,” said Andy.
As part of its long-standing partnership with the WFP, big-hearted TNT employees devote time and effort into raising tens of thousands of pounds to help feed and educate Tanzanian schoolchildren.
Simon Harper, Director of Operations for TNT Express Services, has witnessed, first hand how the Tanzanian youngsters survive with the help of the WFP and outside organisations such as TNT.
He said: “I have seen the wonderful work undertaken by the WFP having been part of a TNT delegation working in Tanzania. It was a humbling experience and incredible to think that for just 7p-per-day a child can be fed and educated - that’s just £25-a-year.”
TNT locations around the UK participated in fundraising and the amount so far raised in 2011 is sufficient to cater for the needs of 1,400 children in Africa
Out of Africa – Andy Waters checks his culinary creation while his TNT helpers Melanie Haigh and Simon Harper prepare to tuck in.
With Edmunds already listed as a Sunday Times Top 100 UK Restaurant and in contention for The Good Food accolade, it was all so very different from the gastronomic delights Andy is more used to creating.
Simon added: “It was amazing what Andy was able to conjure up with such basic ingredients and we really appreciated him giving of his time and culinary expertise.”
The partnership between TNT Express and the WFP was launched in 2002 when the company approached the UN Agency after learning the shock fact that a child dies every five seconds from hunger and hunger-related diseases. Now into its ninth year, the accord between the WFP and TNT is as strong as ever.