Chatsworth chefs serve up a treat for vaccination staff

Chefs at the Chatsworth Estate, part of The Devonshire Group, have been creating ready meals for volunteers and staff at Covid vaccination centres across Derbyshire.

View fullsize

Instead of preparing meals for visitors to Chatsworth, for the past few weeks, chefs in the Carriage House Café kitchen, have been cooking ready meals to provide vaccination staff working long hours with fuel for the fight against coronavirus.

Chatsworth’s delivery drivers have been dropping off hundreds of meals at destinations including Chesterfield Royal, St Oswald’s in Ashbourne, Royal Derby.

Derbyshire has shown that it is leading the nation’s vaccination roll-out – in one week recently, the county vaccinated the second highest proportion of eligible residents in the whole of England.

Chris Baily Jones, head of catering at Chatsworth, said: “The vaccination drive in Derbyshire and elsewhere is absolutely vital in making us all safe for a way out of lockdown.

“We’re determined to do our bit to support Derbyshire NHS and all the people working such long hours to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

Ready meals for Derbyshire vaccination centres have been made possible with funding from Chatsworth Estate, alongside personal contributions from a number of individuals at Chatsworth.

The Devonshire Group community forum, which includes Chatsworth, is chaired by Lord Burlington, son of the Duke of Devonshire, and was set up at the start of the Covid pandemic to reach out and support local communities.

A large number of charitable organisations are supported by the Devonshire Group through donations of money, items and complimentary tickets, and by offering savings on commercial rates. In 2019, charitable giving across the Devonshire Group amounted to £334,452.