Catering Manager, Dean Collins and Head Chef, Chris Vanhoeck at Rendcomb College started this project by creating an order sheet that was sent out to all staff at school. The pair asked staff to request any food essentials that they could help out with whilst supporting local suppliers. They worked to a 1pm cut off on Mondays and Thursdays, then the team made up individual, customised boxes on Tuesdays and Fridays for collection. These were extremely well received, as was the meal delivery service and proved crucial since stocks were depleted locally due to panic buying.

The team are also delivering meals on a daily basis to vulnerable members of the local community who are self-isolating. This has been a godsend to many who are confined to their homes for at least three months. Menu options have so far included beef lasagne, vegetable quiche and chicken curry, all served with vegetables or a side salad and sometimes an apple crumble thrown in! 

In addition to the boxes and meals, complimentary bread and milk has also been delivered to local households. The team have made over 6000 meals for the community and this is rising with new residents ordering every day.

Thomas Franks and Rendcomb College will continue to support their local community and thank all the team at Rendcomb for their hard work and commitment.

To further help the wider community, Rendcomb College and Thomas Franks have partnered up with two local community projects; The Gloucestershire Grace Network and The Long Table. Together they will be delivering 1,200 meals to the most vulnerable adults and children within the Gloucestershire area from the kitchen hub at Rendcomb.

Head of Rendcomb College, Rob Jones commented: “Social responsibility has always been at the heart of what we do at Rendcomb and this work with Thomas Franks to support our local community was a natural thing for us to do. It is extremely exciting to see this initiative scaling up to support 1200 vulnerable people in the county and a great credit to Dean and Chris."

Frank Bothwell, Founder of Thomas Franks added: “The partnership at Rendcomb College was always built on trust, the charity work undertake has cemented this. We are also immensely proud of our catering team at the College.”

For more information on ordering meals, please contact Rendcomb College’s Catering Manager, Dean Collins on cateringmanager@rendcombcollege.org.uk

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