Lindley Catering Wins £8 Million Colchester Community Stadium Catering Contract

Colchester United Football Club:

Weston Homes Community Stadium provides a limited number of Community Events and activities on an at-cost basis to not-for-profit groups in the Colchester community. These events number a minimum of 24 in a calendar year. Room hire is provided free of charge and Lindley provide all catering at cost price.

In addition to Community Events Lindley provide a reduced priced event for local pensioners at Christmas time attracting 250-300 local elderly people for a get together for a celebratory Christmas lunch.

Bristol City Football Club (BCFC):

Lindley is working in partnership with Bristol City Community Trust at BCFC on their Healthy Schools Project. This project involves teaching school children about healthy lifestyles; the importance of linking food and being active through sports. Lindley has developed a cook book for kids that focus on healthy, affordable recipes that taste great. Lindley will demonstrate recipes to the school children when they visit the stadium and they can take away the cook books to continue the cooking experience at home with their families. This type of initiative brings to life what the children have been learning in their healthy eating sessions and will hopefully give them a taste for freshly prepared and healthy food.

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club (GCCC):

During summer 2012 Lindley hosted a cook and eat session with young cricketers where the Head Chef bought 6 ingredients and showed different ways with pasta, noodles and rice and spoke about food hygiene. This was met with great enthusiasm and will be continued into next year.

Warrington Wolves:

Lindley is involved in HM Prison Thorn Cross young offenders work experience scheme. This is where young offenders get let out on day release to complete some work experience to increase confidence, skills and help with future job prospects. Lindley has had people working in kitchens, front of house and The Warrington Wolves Club are also involved.

In October, Lindley became a Business Patron of Warrington Wolves Community Foundation. Recently established to engage local businesses with a passion for making a difference in the Warrington Community, The Warrington Wolves Charitable Foundation aims to help young people of Warrington reach and fulfil their potential through a wide variety of initiatives. As part of Lindley’s contribution to the Foundation we will cover the room hire costs and provide first class catering for all of the Patron Club’s events held at the Stadium throughout the year, including an annual celebration held to recognise Patrons’ support and provide an opportunity for young people to showcase their talents.

Leicester Tigers:

The Droglites Bar that Lindley runs in the Stadium uses four trained volunteer staff each game. The equivalent cost of the wages gets donated to two of the Clubs chosen charities.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club:

Lindley is investing in a project with Tottenham Hotspur Foundation that will teach children in local schools how to make raised vegetable beds and grow seasonal produce. The schools will also receive healthy lifestyle classes and coaching sessions from the Foundation. The school children will visit our kitchens in the stadium and be shown how to prepare great healthy, seasonal meals from their produce. The end of term will finish with a farmers style market with the schools shoeing off their produce and our chefs getting involved in some theatre cooking. Teaching children about fresh produce; what it is, where it comes from, how to grow and cook it are all valuable lessons that will help improve their welfare long term and of course we will have some fun on the way!

The John Smith Stadium:

Lindley is working together with Kirklees College on a local education and training programme. The provides students in Kirklees College’s Catering, Travel and Tourism departments with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience working as part of the Lindley Catering team in match-day, conference, banqueting and event hospitality environments at Stadium. The scheme envisages both work experience placements and paid temporary employment. Selected students are offered personal development training programmes leading to potential offers of full-time permanent employment with Lindley. Kirklees College provide Lindley employees working at the Stadium the opportunity to study for formal qualifications and also develop apprenticeship schemes.

In early November Lindley held an event in conjunction with Huddersfield Police and Kirklees neighbourhood council. The general manager Anthony Hegney conducted a full stadium tour for Kirklees council residents based on talking about employment in the catering industry and the benefits of healthy eating. Martin the head chef did a short cookery demo in the kitchen he made a very basic pea & mint soup to show people how simple and cost effective it was to feed a family on a budget and they all got the opportunity to watch and taste at the end. The event was really well received and the Police have asked Lindley to host another one in April 2013.

Sheffield Wednesday Community Centre:

As sole caterers at the community centre to be built in 2013, Lindley will be using this as a showcase of our CSR initiatives. Lindley will integrate with the other partners at the community centre, such as the GP surgery and sports coaches to provide community workshops like teaching families how to cook affordable and healthy meals. Links between the Centre, Club and Lindley will be supported through the use of charity kiosks.

Bath Racecourse:

Lindley work with the local Bath University to employ staff for the catering operations at the racecourse. Lindley has developed an excellent relationship with the career advisor and throughout the last 3 years over 60 students has worked for Lindley at Bath Racecourse. This creates a sustainable workforce where students come back year after year and supports the local economy.

Notts County Football Club:

Lindley and Notts County Football Club are proud to say that they are sponsoring the RSPCA with a summer ball hosted at Meadow Lane. The Ball's fundraising will go towards animals at RSPCA Nottingham and the Notts Branch.

Sheffield Young Carers:

Lindley have worked alongside Sheffield Young Carers, a registered charity that supports young carers between the ages of 8 and 21, who provide a substantial amount of unpaid care to someone at home with a physical illness and disabilities. By supplying branded aprons for a Young Carers Eat & Greet Event, Lindley aims to help provide young carers with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn valuable cooking skills.