Blogger - Gena Correale-Wardle, Community Fundraising Officer
Here in the RSPB office we love our food. Cake is a regular fixture during the week and lunchtimes come with a melee of delicious smells emanating from the kitchen as people reheat their leftover dinners. There are a lot of fine bakers amongst the staff (proven when we had a cake sale recently and at least 10 people brought in homemade goodies) and we spend an awful lot of time talking about, thinking about and consuming various edible delicacies in the office.
I spend so much time with food on my mind that the thought struck me that it would be great if the RSPB could partner up with some local independent businesses in Norwich who do fantastic, delicious, wholesome food and get them to fundraise for conservation in the process...
And what better time to do it than January – a month which is one of the hardest for birds and wildlife to find food, so it’s really important for us to remember to feed them too, especially lots of seeds and nuts to give them the fat and nutrients they need to get through to winter! It’s also the month of Big Garden Birdwatch, so a great time to get people involved in taking a small step for nature and counting their garden birds for an hour.
My favourite seedy loaf comes from Dozen Bakery (http://www.dozenbakery.co.uk/) on Newmarket Street. It’s a ‘field loaf’ packed with nutritious seeds and whole grains, the likes of which my garden birds would love to munch on. Luckily, the lovely owner Tom was more than obliging at my idea of a January partnership and kindly offered to donate £1 from every loaf sold to the RSPB throughout the month!
When it comes to meals with delicious seeds and nuts in, there’s nowhere better than Pulse Cafe Bar (http://pulsecafebar.co.uk/) off Guildhall Hill - a delicious vegetarian and vegan cafe-restaurant which serves delicious meals that everyone can (and will!) enjoy. From grilled halloumi salad sprinkled with pumpkin seeds to a scrumptious chocolate, cherry and walnut brownie, these dishes are packed full of nutritious delights. Jayne Raffles, owner of Pulse was happy to help put my ideas into practice and generously made 6 of her regular menu items into fundraising dishes for the RSPB with 50p of each one ordered going directly to conservation!
SO now, if you can get to Norwich and love good food, you can come and get fed well whilst also feeding your own sense of self-worth knowing that some of the money is going to help your favourite furry, feathered and finned friends! Don’t forget to make sure your garden birds are as well fed as you are too – RSPB bird food will keep them going through the hard weather when natural food is at its lowest (http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/).
Eat great food, support independent business and save nature - it really is as simple as that!
Brilliant idea, hope it is very successful