SKFF Cooks Up A Storm With Culinary Fundraiser

An Edinburgh-based charity is set to dish up the recipe for fundraising success, with a Ready, Steady, Cook style challenge hosted by celebrity chef Tony Singh.

Run by the Sick Kids Friends Foundation (SKFF), the event will see three teams of consultants from different departments at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC) in Edinburgh swap their stethoscopes for chef’s whites as they go head to head in the culinary challenge.

The creative cook off – entitled ‘Waiter, there’s a doctor in my soup!’ – will take place on Friday 13^th May at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, with the venue being kindly donated free of charge.

Guided by Tony Singh, the volunteer teams from the hospital will each cook one course of a three-course carte du jour, with the audience of diners donating what they think each course is worth, and ultimately voting for their winning team with authentic, Ready, Steady, Cook style paddle boards.

The funds raised will go towards the RHSC’s move to a new, purpose-built home at Little France in 2017, for which SKFF has committed to contribute £2.9million.

Pippa Johnston, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at SKFF, said: “This cook off challenge is a fantastic way for everyone involved to have some fun while raising money for an extremely worthwhile cause.

“We are really grateful to the three teams of consultants who are dedicating time from their busy schedules to be a part of the evening, as well as to Tony Singh for playing host, and to the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, who are providing us with the venue for the event.

“We exist to ensure children and young people’s lives are less interrupted by illness and that they have a more positive hospital experience. With the much-loved ‘Sick Kids’ moving to a new home next year, we want to share our exciting plans for the new hospital and ensure people are well informed of the life-changing projects we fund and the supportive work that we do.

“We provide enhanced facilities, equipment and distractions and it is the generosity of those who get involved in events like this one which allows us to continue doing this.

“We are very excited to find out which of our consultants have hidden culinary talents, and to see which team will triumph on the night and cook up a recipe for fundraising success.”

Tony Singh, who comes from Edinburgh and has opened up a number of restaurants in the city, said: “I’m really chuffed to have been invited to compere the culinary challenge.

“It’s humbling as I have visited the hospital countless times with my kids and grown strong relationships with the staff over the years. So to be invited to take part in events like this one, which are for such a great cause, is fantastic.

“I’m very much looking forward to the evening and seeing what delicious dishes the consultants will cook up.”

‘Waiter, there’s a doctor in my soup!’ will take place at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine on Friday 13^th May, from 7pm until late. All donations will go to the Sick Kids Friends Foundation.