August 2010
The VfL-UK List continues to grow. This month we give a warm welcome to new members: Quaker House of New Milton in Hampshire and Miramar of Beltinge in Kent.
Copies of Vegetarian Living – our healthy living handbook – have found their way into the prison system! We are told there are significant numbers of vegetarians and vegans in prison, but we understand that some prisoners claim to be veggie because the food is better! We hope they benefit some inmates, anyway, true veggies or not (A friendly contact took the booklets to Vegan Camp and the suggestion came from there.)
Tina Fox, our Director, attended a patient participation forum in the Wirral to explore ways of influencing catering in the NHS.
July 2010
A big thank you to all who completed our online website survey, and for your very positive comments. It's rewarding to know how much you appreciate our work. Congratulations to Sheila McCrossan who won the signed Rose Elliot book, Sumptuous Suppers, for taking part in our online website survey. Sheila was delighted and said "I am so pleased to receive this book as I have always been a fan of Rose Elliot and learned how to cook as a vegetarian with her books 35 years ago". Sorry we did not have enough books for all participants!
Tina, our company secretary,attended the Care Quality Commission's Speak Out Network AGM in Birmingham. This is a very lively network of groups who represent communities and individuals from a wide spectrum of society.
June 2010
We took our catering course 'over the water' to Northern Ireland where Abbeyfield, in Belfast, proved to be very welcoming hosts. The training was voted a great success.
After targeted mailing, we are pleased to welcome two new Scottish members to the VfL-UK List - including our furthest north, in the enchanting Orkney Islands.
We are also pleased to welcome our first Quaker home, Ifield Park, in West Sussex, and our first home from the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution Group, Devonshire Court, in Leicestershire.
May 2010
Welcome to Hollyland Lodge, Pembroke, the 308th member of the VfL–UK List, and a welcome addition to our membership in Wales.
In a push to extend coverage in Scotland, we have mailed Scottish care homes and sheltered schemes with a copy of Vegetarian Living, our healthy living handbook, and an invitation to join the VfL-UK list.
This month saw the first grant award from the Vegetarian Fund, for a stair-lift to enable a lady in her 70s to return to her home, in Shoreham-on-Sea, from a nursing home, and to resume independent living. Her social worker reports that Mrs W was thrilled with the installation and the speed with which the grant was processed: "it has opened the house up to her again and allowed her to return home safely".
April 2010
We had an information stand at the Gloucester Care Providers Conference - a well-organised and well-attended event. We were able to distribute lots of our literature and make some useful contacts.
Our website continues to average around 15,000 ‘hits’ per month, and in April we received some very encouraging responses to our website survey. We’d encourage more responses (there’s a link from the Home page) and remind you of the chance to win a free copy of a signed Rose Elliot book. Good Luck!
March 2010 We were pleased to welcome the 15 homes of the Abbeyfield Society – Kent to the VfL-UK List. Coincidentally, Abbeyfield Wessex's home in Bournemouth, Westboune House, was the location for our fourth catering course. We adapted the normal course to suit Abbeyfield, and, instead of watching a cookery demonstration, the delegates worked together, with guidance from the Cordon Vert tutors, to produce a vegetarian lunch for all the residents. The course and lunch were voted a hit by all concerned! We mailed an Easter Treats leaflet to all members of the VfL-UK List, with four seasonal recipes. Non-members can find the recipes in the ‘festive’ section of our recipe pages, or, for a printed copy, please email admin@vegetarianforlife.org.uk Our patron, Rose Elliot, published a new book this month and it’s a wonderful source for inspirational new ideas. The New Complete Vegetarian combines timeless classics with modern recipes, including some perfect for the Spring season, such as Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Lemon Butter Sauce; Fennel with Orange and Pine Nut Stuffing; New Potato, Pea and Mint Frittata with Lemon Mayonnaise; and Iced Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins. February 2010 Welcome to three new VfL – UK List members: Kents Hill in Milton Keynes, Thistle Hill in Knaresborough and Bryn Eithin in Colwyn Bay. We are particularly pleased to welcome Bryn Eithin Residential Home, as Wales is currently under-represented on the list. We are targeting more new members in Wales during 2010. Our third course for care caterers - in Milton Keynes, and hosted by Excelcare - was very successful. The cookery demonstration was particularly well received; in fact one delegate requested a full day just of demonstrations! Maple Leaf, the MHA home in Derbyshire which hosted the second course, subsequently held a vegetarian food day to show off their new skills, and it was very popular with residents, staff and visitors – veggies and meat-eaters alike. We have added Paypal to our website for donations – an easy way to support our work. Requests for VfL publications, lists of care homes in specific areas, and for vegetarian and vegan recipes suitable for older people, continue to pour in – and help to keep the office busy. January 2010
We welcomed Waterhall Care Centre, Milton Keynes, to the VfL-UK List in January, and we are working hard to meet our membership target of 300 well before the end of the current financial year on September 30.
Despite the adverse weather, we managed to run our second course for care caterers, at Maple Leaf MHA care home in Derbyshire. We were encouraged by the very positive feedback, and try to learn from this to make future courses even better.
We were delighted to receive excellent reviews of the VfL Catering Guide, and our Healthy Living handbook, in Rostrum, the magazine of the British Association of Social Workers - Scotland
Tina, our Company Secretary, was also busy networking in Bradford at the excellent IGNITE course organised by the Care Quality Commission.
December 09
We welcomed Northwood House, Blackburn, to the VfL-UK List and we sent our Christmas Recipe leaflet to members who had joined during 2009.
Rose Elliot, our patron, kindly developed some new seasonal snack recipes for VfL and we emailed those to all VfL–UK List members. The recipes are also available on the website.
We were also pleased to receive press coverage this month in The Vegan, Viva!Life and Jewish Vegetarian.
We are looking forward to expanding our work in the New Year and we wish everyone a happy and healthy 2010.
November 09
This month we welcomed Harrogate Neighbours Housing Association to the VfL – UK List and a new frozen foods supplier, Oakhouse Foods.
We were invited to join the Speak Out Network, a new group formed by the Care Quality Commission to ensure the voices of those seldom heard get a chance. It is probably the first time the vegetarian voice has been raised in this way and we are honoured to be involved. Our Company Secretary, Tina Fox, attended an introduction event in Leicester and more work will follow in the new year.
We were also delighted that our first Catering Course for care caterers took place, hosted by an Elizabeth Finn care home in the Cotswolds. The food produced was delicious and the feedback very positive, and we look forward to the courses scheduled for January, February and March 2010. If you are interested in attending or hosting one of these subsidised courses please contact Tina at tina@vegetarianforlife.org.uk for more details.