A community-spirited Burnham-On-Sea couple raised over £150 for the Royal British Legion by delivering VE Day picnics to local people.
Paul and Carol Hellend, who run catering business Hellend’s Kitchen, delivered pre-ordered homemade sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiche, scotch eggs, pizzas, cookies, Vegetarian food and Victoria sponge slices.
Customers paid by PayPal or bank transfer to avoid physical contact, while all the deliveries complied with social distancing measures by being made to doorsteps.
“Everything was provided in reusable or recyclable packaging and we had many orders locally but also out to Cheddar and Pawlett,” Paul told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“We felt that with the current restrictions the special day was going to go by without the Royal British Legion getting little, if any, funding.”
“We had already been delivering homemade ready meals to locals in the area so thought we could easily do the same for them.”
“All profit went to the charity and we eventually raised £150 although it was hard work to get every picnic delivered by our deadline of 2pm so they could enjoy their parties at 3pm.”
“The feedback has been amazing with some people saying we had gone above and beyond expectations and some even wanted to donate more to the charity themselves!”
“We were very grateful for the many kind words and comments received but were really pleased we were able to promote the Royal British Legion.”
The couple work at Berrow C of E Primary School as Cook and Caretaker during the week and have a contractual agreement with the school’s governors to hire the kitchen at weekends as Hellend’s Kitchen.
“The school supported this initiative by offering to waive the usual charges so more money could go to the charity, which we were grateful for,” adds Paul.
“We’ve run Hellend’s Kitchen now for about 9 months and are slowly building up regular customers. Although the school is rated 5 star by Sedgemoor Environmental Health we also had to be registered and inspected separately and again achieved 5 star rating.”
“We currently focus on healthier, reasonably priced ready meals for the community and Carol ensures the standards she uses for the children’s meals are replicated in everything she does. We’re both really proud of what we do. We get a lot of support from the school, village hall, and local staff and parents, so we’re really lucky.”
