During the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, we were delighted to work alongside local charity Aspire and the Waddesdon Community Group to provide cooked meals for school children and shielding residents from the villages of Waddesdon, Westcott and Winchendon. The scheme ran from March to July 2020 and again from January to March 2021.

The Rothschild Foundation funded the scheme with a grant of £32,500 to cover meal costs and packaging for the two year period.

All meals were cooked by Waddesdon’s catering team, under the guidance of our Head chefs Craig Clarke and Ben Thurkettle. The team gave up their own time during furlough for a period of 17 weeks in 2020 and 10 weeks in 2021. We are so grateful for their dedication and commitment during these most difficult of times.

In 2020, the scheme provided individual meals three days per week. However in 2021, following feedback from the schools, we decided to provide a family sized portion once per week instead to ensure that the students whole family received a nutritious meal.

The menu consisted of hearty dishes such as shepherd’s pie, roast dinner or lasagne followed by a dessert. In 2020, we provided a total of 7,332 meals with 4,482 meals delivered to school children and 2,850 to local residents. In 2021, we delivered a total of 6,300 meals with 1,320 family meals (5,280 individual meals) and 1,020 to local residents. Over the two year period, we provided a total of 13,632 meals.

We have received many positive and heartfelt messages from local residents, who wanted to show their appreciation to the Rothschild Foundation and to Waddesdon Manor for allowing the use of all the kitchen facilities during lockdown.

We are very pleased to have served our local community and offer support during such a challenging time.