The Olive Branch launches ‘dine and donate’ hospice campaign

The Olive Branch in Clipsham, Rutland, has come up with a great foodie idea to raise funds for Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough. Throughout February 2018 the award-winning pub is charging just £10 for a two-course meal booked between 6.30pm and 7pm, Sunday to Friday. Diners are then given the opportunity to donate – however much they feel appropriate – in an envelope on their table. This will go to the hospice.

Dishes include beef short rib with slow roast onion, celeriac mash and red wine gravy; five-spiced honey glazed ham hock with mac ‘n’ Red Leicester and parsley sauce; and banana & custard crème brûlée with coconut sorbet.

Olive Branch co-owner Ben Jones said: “We have come to know all about Thorpe Hall’s great work by talking to guests and friends over the years. The wonderful thing about running a community pub is that we get to know many people. We hear both the happy and the sad.

“We were particularly touched by the hospice’s work with a friend, Simonetta, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and passed away six months later in August 2017. Her family have since set up a trust – www.tantocositrust.org. Some of Simonetta’s care was at Thorpe Hall. The hospice does a quite amazing job.”

This is the second consecutive year that The Olive Branch has run its February dine-and-donate campaign. Last year the pub raised £3,718 for the long-term rehabilitation of 19-year-old George Robinson, who suffered a serious spinal injury whilst playing rugby in South Africa for Stamford School in July 2015.

The author:

Matt lives in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. He is passionate about the independent food & drink sector and founded Great Food Club in 2010 after being inspired by local producers near his home town.