Profits from the sale of 300 jars of an award-winning piccalilli have been turned into vital funds for a Guildford charity. Local Food Britain member John `Bartie’ Bartlett of Bartie’s Sussex Faire sold the final jar of the `Boxing Day Piccalilli’ in the last two hours of trading on Christmas Eve and raised £260 for the Challengers which provides play and leisure schemes for disabled children and young people.
The original recipe wowed judges at Local Food Britain’s first ever Preserves with Passion Awards. Made from vegetables harvested from Angela West’s Derrys Field allotment in Woking, the preserve scooped the top award and was then recreated and packaged as a Limited Edition for Bartie’s Sussex Faire range.
Angela had already chosen the Challengers to benefit from the sales, but the timing couldn’t be more apt - on the same day her entry was being judged, the charity suffered a huge blow when its Guildford play centre was ravaged by fire. The jars were sold at farmers’ markets and food fairs across the south east in the run up to Christmas, with 50p per jar going to the charity. Bartie then added 5% of his Christmas gift takings to bring the total to £260.
“This is a fantastic amount to be raised from piccalilli and we are really grateful to Local Food Britain and Bartie for giving us a boost at such a difficult time for us,” said Katie Ledger, the Challengers Community Fundraising officer. “The money will either pay for a new children’s tricycle or for a mobile farm to come and visit the youth scheme, something both the children and our play workers really enjoy.”
Local Food Britain, a network representing local food producers and providers across the south east and London, will be hosting its Preserves with Passion Awards again this September. Founder Tracy Carroll said: “The awards attracted a huge range of inventive and delicious home-made preserves and we very much look forward to new entries later this year. A big thank you to our experienced `preserve meister’ Bartie, who was the chief judge and was able to include the winning recipe within his wide range of award winning artisan chutneys, jams and jellies to raise much-needed funds for a good cause.”
*Building work at the Challengers has been underway since November and the play centre is expected to reopen at the beginning of February half term.
Tags: farmers' market
piccalilli
vegetables
Piccalilli spices up winter months
Local Food Britain member Bartie’s Sussex Faire had a successful Christmas period thanks to sales of its "Boxing Day Piccalilli" made from vegetables harvested from Angela West’s Derrys Field allotment in Woking. The artisan company run by John "Bartie" Bartlett from his own kitchen also offers a wide range of other products including chutneys and savoury jellies, jams and spreads and relishes and sauces using traditional methods.
