Fine Wine Auction helps get child hunger off the table

8 October 2012 - The renowned 1 Lombard Street played host to Action Against Hunger’s Fine Wine Auction on Saturday, which saw a room full of lucky diners raise over £400,000 to help fight child hunger around the world.

Cooking up a storm for the lucky guests was a top line up of world renowned chefs Claude Bosi (Hibiscus), Andrew Fairlie (Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles), Phil Howard (The Square) and Tom Kerridge (The Hand and Flowers). They worked alongside each other in the kitchen to prepare the feast, under the helpful eye of 1 Lombard Street’s very own head chef, Juri Ravagli.

The Fine Wine Auction is part of Action Against Hunger’s Love Food Give Food appeal, which is aiming to help get child hunger off the table and treat 100,000 children in Burkina Faso, Niger and Liberia.  The UK Government is matching all public donations to the appeal, meaning the support of guests including celebrated chefs Angela Hartnett, Clare Smyth, Mark Hix and Claire Clark went twice as far to raise this amazing amount.

Enjoying the evening was 80’s pop sensation Rick Astley, who said: “I am delighted to be here this evening supporting Action Against Hunger. At the back of all our minds throughout the night is the knowledge that we are all here for a good cause. We’ve all really enjoyed the food, but the event also makes you think about giving something back and stepping up to the plate to help those around the world who do not have enough to eat.”

Chef Juri Ravagli said: “1 Lombard Street has been supporting Action Against Hunger’s Fine Wine Auction for a number of years and I am delighted to support this fantastic event. Food is a huge passion of mine and turning this passion into action and helping those in the world for whom food is a hardship is an opportunity too good to turn down.”

Guests were treated to a Champagne Taittinger reception, followed by a four course meal accompanied with matching wines, port and cognac. 

Chef Phil Howard said: “It has been a privilege cooking alongside three chefs who I admire hugely. Together, we have had a lot of fun in the kitchen and the menu seems to have gone down well with the diners. For those of us who have a choice of what we eat it is surely an obligation to do something to help those who wonder if they are going to eat at all.” 

After the dinner, a state of the art auction took place, with exclusive money can’t buy prizes including dinner at Noma, the world’s number one restaurant. The highest bid of the evening was £15,000 for dinner at the Kitchen Table at the opening of Angela Hartnett’s new restaurant at the award winning Lime Wood Hotel.

Action Against Hunger’s Head of Events, Becca McRow, said: “It has been a fantastic evening and we have raised an incredible amount of money for our work around the world. Our guests have been amazing and have really got behind Love Food Give Food, digging very deeply in their pockets to help our appeal. We would like to thank all of our amazing chefs for cooking up a delicious menu and of course 1 Lombard Street for once again opening their doors to us so warmly. Together, everyone this evening has helped us get one step closer to getting child hunger off the table.”

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Notes to the editor:
Action Against Hunger | ACF International is an international humanitarian organisation committed to ending child hunger. Recognised as a leader in the fight against malnutrition, ACF works to save the lives of malnourished children while providing communities with sustainable access to safe water and long-term solutions to hunger. With 30 years of expertise in emergency situations of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity, ACF runs life-saving programmes in some 45 countries benefiting 7 million people each year.

The UK Government will match fund all public donations raised through Action Against Hunger’s Love Food Give Food appeal, which will take place from 1st September to 30th November 2012. The match funding will support children in hunger-stricken Burkina Faso, Niger and Liberia. The aim is to support 100,000 malnourished children in these three countries.

UK Aid Match is the British Government’s scheme to give the public a say in how a portion of the aid budget is spent by matching public donations to charity appeals for projects to reduce poverty in developing countries. UK Aid Match was launched in June 2011. Further details at www.dfid.gov.uk/ukaidmatch