17th December 2007
Pabulum ends the year with an award record!
Pabulum’s Isle of Wight office certainly have something to celebrate this Christmas. They have been lucky enough to win two major awards on the Island this Year and been runner up for a third one. The first award was the high profile People’s School’s Catering Award which is sponsored by Isle of Wight radio which went to Sherri Cowley from Gunard Primary School.
The next award went to Jenny Pritchett from Somerton Middle who was awarded the Turning Tables – Transforming School Food Award for Catering Supervisors. Pabulum also came runner up in the HTP Commitment to Training Employer of the Year Awards.
Di Kennett – Regional Manager for the Isle of Wight commented: "this has been such a great surprise for us. Usually everyone is very shy of nominating or being nominated but it seems this year there is a greater commitment for people’s skills to be rewarded. On the back of a year which has seen the Isle of Wight in the media with positive press about the school meals that we are serving on the Island this is fantastic that individuals are being recognised for their efforts too."
Pabulum was delighted to be featured on both the BBC and ITV channels back in September with coverage on the way in which the Isle of Wight Schools are leading the national statistics in the new healthy schools status by achieving 100% coverage.
November 2007
Pabulum joins in the Children in Need fundraising fun
Pabulum was delighted to join in on raising funds for Children In Need on November 16th 2007. The types of activities to raise money were very varied however, they were all based around Pabulum’s favourite topic of FOOD.
All of Pabulum’s units contributed to this very worthy cause by coming up with what they thought would raise the most money with their customers. Many of the schools that Pabulum look after were delighted as the nature of the fundraising exercise allowed the schools to bake Pudsey bear cookies and cakes which were then sold. This is due to an exemption within the new school meals guidelines that allows for the participation in charity and religious celebrations.
Guildford College also saw Pudsey themed meals that were available to the students all day whilst staff at the company’s Headquarters in Fleet, Hampshire held a fundraising rewarding the staff with delicious bacon sandwiches.
The total raised on the day was nearly £2,000 which has been donated to the charity. Pabulum’s Chairman Deborah Harvey said:" This is the first year that we have held Children in Need events across all of our units and I am delighted in the way in which all of the staff have participated. We are already planning our ideas for next year. It is the perfect charity for us to support as we are working with children in the schools on a daily basis."
10th October 2007
Pabulum secures appointment of Stephen Gill.
Stephen Gill, formerly of Cater Link, is to join Pabulum as their new Operations Director from November 1st 2007. The appointment follows other recent board level changes at Pabulum which has also seen the promotion of former Operations Director Jonathan Gawthrop to Managing Director. Deborah Harvey is now the company’s Executive Chairman.
This is an exciting move for Pabulum as they have enjoyed continual growth not just in the educational market place but also more recently within the Business and Industry Sector. Jonathan Gawthrop commented that: "it is a real coup for us to secure Stephen, he brings a wealth of experience from many of our competitors and will further strengthen our existing operation whilst adding value to new business sites and tenders".
Stephen’s career boasts working for some of the industry’s most impressive brands including Sodexho, Eden Education Catering, Avenance and Cater Link. The experience that he brings very much reflects the mix of clients that Pabulum is currently working with in terms of education and B&I organisations. The position is a Board appointment where he will lead the operations strategy into the future.
Above all else Stephen is a real foodie and puts excellent food at the heart of everything he does. Again this mirrors the work that Pabulum are doing within their schools in conjunction with the new School Meals Guidelines and also with the exciting new food offerings at their colleges and B&I sites.
The appointment signifies a strengthening at senior level within the Pabulum team as it comes two months after Mags O’Keefe joined the organisation in the new role as Director of Marketing.
5th October 2007
School meals were again at the centre of the news this week as the education watchdog Ofsted published a report indicating that school meal uptake has fallen at three quarters of the inspected calls and have declared that the school meals system is in near crisis.
Here on the Isle of Wight however, the figures indicate the reverse. Pabulum Catering in partnership with the Isle of Wight Council, who are responsible for the for the Isle of Wight schools show that this term there has been a 3% increase in the uptake of school meals which is significantly better than the national average.
Di Kennett who is Regional manager looking after the Isle of Wight contract for Pabulum said on the matter "the continual negative publicity just impacts on the downturn and ultimately threatens the future of school meals. We want to ensure that the islanders have all the facts to make an informed choice about what their children are eating at school. Pabulum have worked hard to ensure that the new government guidelines are adhered to but it has not been at the detriment of the great food that we serve to around 7,000 of the Island’s children everyday."
The Isle of Wight Council and the turning the tables group are being incredibly supportive but we need the support and partnership approach at all levels; the schools, parents and the children. Jo Ewell who is responsible for the school meals contract on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council added that: "The IoW are in a strong position with regards to the future of school meals. Working with Pabulum we have found innovative solutions to the challenges that the school meals debate has thrown up. We wish to continue this moving forward and lead the way as this will have a knock on affect to national trends. However, to do this we need ongoing support from each and every level."
The Times newspaper (September 4th 2007 ) recently published an article stating that the IoW were top of the league with regards to healthy school meals. Within Local Education Authorities the Island had 100% of it’s schools meeting the healthy schools status and enjoying delicious nutritious meals. This further reinforces the trends that we are seeing and we hope that this will generate some positive news about the good food being fed to our future generations within our education system.
The Westgate school goes top of the class
The Westgate School in Slough is receiving an award for being one of the South’s top performing healthy schools on Thursday 13th September 2007 from its’ school meal provider Pabulum catering.
Recent research by the Liberal Democrats has shown a decrease in the amount of students that take up the school meal option. This statistic has been further hampered by the introduction of new government guidelines that forbids the sale of carbonated drinks, confectionery, crisps and chocolate within the school environment. However, if sold as part of a meal pupils are still able to enjoy a delicious traditional school favourites such as home made flapjacks, chocolate krispie cakes, mousses and jellies.
Being a very multicultural school with pupils from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and tastes including a lot of vegetarians the school manages to put something for everyone on the menu. The real sell out favourites include:
- Kay’s homemade curries (there’s a whole variety of different ones even for the
vegetarians)
- Homemade red onion and pepper pizza
- Mexican chicken with salad in pitta breads
- Minced lamb bolognaise
Maureen Mallinson – the bursar at The Westgate School said "It has been great working on the new menus with Pabulum as they have provided great insight into how the children will eat a healthy meal at lunch time. Pabulum have provided us with the flexibility and innovation that we lacked previously. Kay and her team have revolutionized school meals here at Westgate and we are delighted to be receiving this award. I think it is even more poignant that we are receiving it at a time when school meals are under such scrutiny by the government and the media in general"
Not happy with one award in the kitchen The Westgate School have also just heard that they will be receiving the Berkshire Safe Food Award which is recognizing their excellent food and safety standards in the kitchen.