Three green champions raise £5,000 for charity
Three green champions from the hospitality world were celebrating last night after completing an epic bike ride for charity which covered 200kms in just 2 days and raised £5,000 to benefit Springboard, which helps young, unemployed and disadvantaged young people into careers in hospitality, and Action Against Hunger, the organisation committed to ending child hunger.
At 8.30am on Sunday 7th October, Mark Linehan, Managing Director of The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), Mike Mellor, Managing Director of Space Catering and Shaldon-based Andy Cook, Partner at Ease project management, build and design specialists, left The Scarlet Hotel in Mawgan Porth, North Cornwall raring to go.
During their ambitious two-day journey the intrepid trio tackled the many hills and lanes, calling in at ten of Cornwall and Devon’s most sustainable venues, while collecting home grown sustainable ingredients along the way. The sustainable pit stops included collecting sea purslane from The Scarlet in Mawgan Porth, Cornish sea salt from Watergate Bay, fresh herbs from The Eden Project, and bread from the Town Mill Bakery in The Royal William Yard, Plymouth. After a hearty meal and a great night’s sleep at The Victoria Inn in Salcombe a new SRA member, the charity cyclists were up bright and early to catch the ferry across the estuary to East Portlemouth, completing the mile and a half ascent to Gara Rock where they collected a large marrow. They then visited Dartmouth Marina and picked up fresh mussels from Teignmouth before reaching their final destination, ODE Café in Shaldon, Devon, at 1.30pm on Monday 8th October, where they were welcomed with open arms by owner Tim Bouget, who was delighted with his haul of tasty, fresh local ingredients.
The fundraising didn’t stop there. Tim and his award-winning team at ODE Café then made the most of the fresh ingredients by cooking up a delicious sustainable supper to mark the end of the tour. Over 50 guests tucked into a fundraising feast of Asian fishcakes made with local line-caught pollack from Brixham; mini-venison burgers; Asian spiced pancakes which were stuffed with the marinated marrow from Gara Rock; deli cold cuts from Cornwall; a thick chowder made with the fresh mussels from Teignmouth; sand eels with garlic aioli and fish & chips sprinkled with the sea purslane from The Scarlet, all followed by ginger cake made with the fresh ginger from The Eden Project; a lemon possett and mouth-watering Montezuma chocolate brownies. A fantastic charity auction then took place to boost the coffers further.
“We set out as good friends and colleagues with the common goal of raising as much money as we could for two great charities, while keeping green issues in the limelight,” explains Shaldon based Andy Cook, Partner at Ease project management in Liskeard. “There were some really challenging moments during the long cycle ride but we all kept each other going. On every leg of our journey we were able to enjoy the most fantastic sustainable local hospitality and food which is truly second to none.”
"It was an absolute pleasure to spend two days cycling 200km through Devon and Cornwall for such a great cause as Springboard, even if at times it seemed there was no end to the hills! The experience was made even better by the wonderful hospitality we received from SRA members The Scarlet Hotel, The Victoria Inn in Salcombe and ODE, Shaldon,” comments Mark Linehan, managing director SRA
