Rude Health to the Rescue

Lock Down Meals from our friends
at Rude Health

Lock Down ‘2’ as it’s now known, has left many of our more isolated members feeling anxious and fearful - not helped by the difficulty many have experienced with long supermarket queues and trouble obtaining food delivery slots.

To help make life a little easier, the lovely lot behind clean living food brand Rude Health have stepped in to make delicious meals for some of our most in-need members.  Cafe Manager Fergus Snell explains how it came about - 

‘As a business we’re used to pivoting and championing causes that inspire us, including Free School Meals, tackling food waste and providing support for organisations that run Specialty Coffee Training Academies for vulnerable adults. When we heard about the second national lockdown we knew we wanted to keep busy, stay useful and support our local community. So, we decided to approach our local AGE UK Hammersmith and Fulham to see if we could help them out by cooking and distributing meals for isolating members of our community. We are delighted AGE UK Hammersmith and Fulham worked so quickly to make it possible.’

Rude Health started back in 2005 as the brain child of Nick and Camilla Barnard who set out to make mouth-watering Muesli with no hidden unhealthy ingredients.  By 2013, the duo had launched their critically acclaimed range of organic dairy-free milk (now sold in cafes and supermarkets nationwide), before setting up their own inclusive Rude Health cafe in South West London in 2016.

Despite the lockdowns, the cafe staff wanted to keep busy and do a little extra to help their community - ‘Our staff love cooking delicious and nutritious food’ Fergus told us; ‘they also love the relationships they’ve built with members of our local community in Hammersmith and Fulham. Cooking for AGE UK allows us to continue to pay them their normal wages so that they aren’t stuck at home bored and purposeless. It gives them meaningful and satisfying work to do during this lockdown – when the café isn’t busy – and benefits so many members of our nearby community. A real win, win.’

This has resulted in them cooking up to sixty meals per day for AGE UK to distribute to its elderly members of the community, as well as Carers Network, Link Workers and Sheltered Housing.  This is of course all done while adhering to safety protocols and wearing the correct PPE. 

Being aware of the varying needs of our members, the Rude Health team compiled a menu that is tantalising for all - including meat and vegetarian variants of Coq Au Vin, Lasagne, Stroganoff and Mac ’n’ Cheese to name just a few of their delicious offerings.

Fergus says: ‘Our no taste-bud-left-unturned approach is about making the healthy choice as face meltingly delicious as possible. The menu we’re providing offers delicious, balanced and comforting meals with meat and vegetarian options daily.’

The meals have been so gratefully received across the network and from the staff and members of AGE UK Hammersmith & Fulham, we thank you Rude Health for helping our community and lifting all of our spirits during this difficult time!