Last year, The Hub launched ‘Care Dine With Me’ on behalf of Kerrymaid and in collaboration with Bidfood and Care Home Catering Magazine. Following on from its 2016 success, 2017 saw ‘Care Dine With Me’ return for a second year, bigger, bolder and better.

The competition sought to drive awareness of the talented chefs and care home cooks in the care catering channel, as well as the many, great care home menus in care homes across the UK.

Bringing something unique to the channel, Care Dine with Me 2017 focused on taste, quality and food values, offering entrants the chance to win a whopping £5000 for their care home.

Care Dine With Me 2017, in a nutshell

What we set out to achieve:

• Raise awareness of the great chefs and cooks in care homes
• Raise awareness of Kerrymaid in the care channel
• Offer a unique activation to support customers

What we acheived:

• Brand awareness for Kerrymaid
• A deeper understanding of the complex and diverse challenges faced by the care channel
• Expanded relationships with some of the biggest UK care home groups
• Developed an original campaign, activated across multiple platforms

And the winner?

From many quality entries, a shortlist of five was chosen. We travelled the country from Somerset to Harrogate and experienced first-hand everyday life in a care home. Our finalists Gracewell of Frome, Somerset; Rashwood, Worcestershire; Sunrise of Eastbourne, Eastbourne and Halliwell, Kent all did a fantastic job of demonstrating how they went above and beyond to help ensure a ‘whole care, whole food’ approach was delivered to their residents. Each of our finalists received £100 Bidfood kitchen equipment vouchers, and Gracewell of Frome used their vouchers to purchase a carvery slab and now offer a monthly carvery to residents and guests.

However, the overall winner was Hampden House in Harrogate, Head chef Debbie McCormack really inspired us, having worked at Hampden House for 22 years there was no request from her residents Debbie didn’t meet. From incorporating daily specials to accommodating residents’ requests for favourite meals to sherry mornings and cooking classes, nutrition, hydration and reminiscence forms a key part of the lives of residents at Hampden House. Having scooped the £5,000 prize money, Hampden House is planning to put the money towards a summerhouse, which will allow residents to grow and tend to vegetables and herbs and use them in their daily menus.

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