Ashley Palmer-Watts' team of chefs fired up for Kilimanjaro challenge

16 August 2013

Team flies to Kenya this weekend for next week’s climb

A team of leading UK chefs and restaurateurs are making their final preparations before climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for the leading UK charity, Farm Africa which is working to tackle hunger in eastern Africa.

The team is to be led by cooking supremo Ashley Palmer-Watts, Executive Head Chef at both the Fat Duck Group and leading restaurant, Dinner By Heston Blumenthal, which was the only UK restaurant to feature in the top ten of this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants List.

Joining him will be John Freeman (Head Chef at Nottingham’s Michelin two-starred Restaurant Sat Bains); Paulo de Tarso (Senior Maître D’ at Knightsbridge’s Bar Boulud); and Paul Foster (Head Chef at Suffolk’s highly regarded Tuddenham Mill).

Getting to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest freestanding mountain, is the equivalent of climbing Big Ben 61 times. But before their moment of triumph at the summit, the chefs will have to cope with thin air, very basic food rations and freezing nights sleeping in basic tents on the side of the mountain.

And as if making it to the summit is not challenging enough, the team has set itself an equally mountainous fundraising target of £50,000. Thanks to an extraordinary fundraising effort - including auctions of dinners cooked by the chefs themselves, a fundraising football tournament and discretionary £1 additions to bills at the chefs’ restaurants – the team are well on their way to their target. Before even strapping themselves into their boots, they have managed to raise an astonishing £38,000 with further donations certain to flood in once the chefs have hauled themselves to the very highest point in Africa. The fundraising effort received a significant boost recently when Chemex, a British company specialising in high quality cleaning and hygiene products for restaurants and retail outlets, announced its sponsorship support for the climb.

Broadcast quality footage available from the climb

The team will also be joined by veteran cameraman Paul Gwilliams who will be shooting broadcast quality footage throughout the chefs’ trip, and of course during the climb.

All media interested in broadcasting video footage from the climb should contact Farm Africa’s Press Office (details below).

Ashley Palmer-Watts’ commitment to supporting Farm Africa

Ashley Palmer-Watts was inspired to come up with the idea of a Mount Kilimanjaro fundraising climb after travelling to Kenya last year to visit a Farm Africa project. The Michelin-starred chef saw with his own eyes how the charity is transforming lives for the better after staying for a week with a family of fish farmers at the heart of a Farm Africa project. He returned to the UK determined to strengthen his support for Farm Africa’s work. Ashley will lead his fellow chefs on a return visit to Farm Africa’s fish farming project before they head to Tanzania to conquer Kilimanjaro. Explaining what had motivated his fellow chefs to join him for the challenge of a lifetime, Ashley said:

“As chefs, our daily lives revolve round serving great food in luxurious surroundings. But we are all only too aware that beyond our restaurants’ walls there are close to a billion people going hungry every day. Without food, these people have no hope for making a better future for themselves. Last year I was lucky enough to travel to Kenya to see the inspirational work Farm Africa is doing to beat hunger.

“We all have to do our bit to help tackle hunger and I am confident that the UK food and hospitality world will support our climb and the wonderful work Farm Africa is doing to tackle one of the greatest problems facing the world today.”

Kilimanjaro Challenge Itinerary

Sunday 18 August: chefs fly to Kenya

Monday 19 – Wednesday 21 August: chefs visit Farm Africa Aqua Shops project in Kisumu (Kenya) and Ashley meets the community he stayed with last year. On Wednesday 21st the chefs fly on to Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania.

Thursday 22 – Thursday 29 August: chefs ascend and descend Mount Kilimanjaro. They are expected to summit on Wednesday 28 August.

Saturday 31 August: chefs arrive back in the UK.

Stay connected with the chefs

You can follow the chefs in real time as they train for and take on Kilimanjaro via their dedicated blog: www.farmafrica.org/chefswithaltitude

You can also follow all the action on Twitter via #Chefkili

To support Ashley, Paulo, John, Paul and Paul, please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/chefskilimanjaroclimb

Or text CHEF13 followed by £(amount) to 70070

Kilimanjaro film and talk at the 2013 Restaurant Show at Earl’s Court

Shortly after descending from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, John, Paulo and Paul will be appearing at this year’s prestigious Restaurant Show at London’s Earl’s Court. The session will look at what motivated the team to take on climbing Kilimanjaro, their experiences on the mountain and their future plans for fundraising for Farm Africa. They will be showing a short film shot on the mountainside by cameraman Paul Gwilliams, and there will be an opportunity to quiz the team on their experiences in a q and a session.

The Restaurant Show 2013 takes place at Earl’s Court between 7 and 9 October. The Chefs will be showing their film on Monday 7^th October between 1pm and 1.40pm. Further information and details are available here: http://www.therestaurantshow.co.uk/

For more information, and to arrange interviews with the chefs, please contact the Farm Africa Press Office:

Matt Whitticase, 020 7067 1237 / mattheww@farmafrica.org

Laura Oakley,    020 7067 1252 /laurao@farmafrica.org

Images are available on request.

Ends

Notes to Editor:

About Farm Africa

Farm Africa supports farmers living at subsistence level, constantly at risk of crop failure, to build food and income security so that they can grow a better and reliable future for their families.

By focusing on ‘climate smart’ agricultural and forestry techniques, building market links and adding value to production, Farm Africa unleashes the entrepreneurial abilities of the farmers and rural communities they work with.

This is the time to turn challenge into opportunity for African farmers. Farm Africa believes passionately that smallholders can and will play a key role in achieving rural prosperity in Africa.

Food for Good

The Chefs’ Kilimanjaro Challenge is part of Food for Good, a Farm Africa initiative that is bringing together the food and hospitality industry to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the world today: hunger. You can find out more about Food for Good here: www.farmafrica.org/foodforgood

In addition, Farm Africa is the chosen charity for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013, sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.