Cook & Dine is our annual fundraising lunch celebrating & showcasing all that is great about the UK's hospitality industry. This unique event brings together industry guests and volunteers from all backgrounds, experiences, and seniority levels to cook, serve and dine together!

The occasion is focused on celebrating our shared commitment and helping raise funds and awareness to support people at risk of homelessness & anyone facing barriers to employment outside of their control, to find and forge a career in hospitality. Only A Pavement Away's vision is to support 5,000 individuals each year by 2030 through employment opportunities, financial support and tailored learning & development.

On the day, Greg Mangham, CEO and Founder of Only A Pavement Away, said "We are delighted by the success of this year’s Cook & Dine fundraising event, where we were, once again, able to come together and demonstrate the magnitude of the support from our industry, dedicated to helping those facing hardships. The £73.7k raised at this year’s Cook & Dine event will be vital in helping us place even more people facing homelessness into meaningful employment, across this fantastic industry. The event served as a great opportunity for us to also recognise all those who have supported us, in so many ways, throughout the past year. When Gill & I started Only A Pavement Away in 2018, we were hoping to help a few people into work - not 795! And so, to those who stand with us, our sincere thanks, and to those not yet part of the programme, we hope you left today feeling inspired to get involved!”

Our since thank you to our generous and invaluable sponsors and supporters for making the event such a success. Thank you to the Hilton for allowing us to host this event, to our Patron Tom Aikens, and our event partners Caterer.com, Greene King, and Stonegate. Additionally, Cook & Dine would not be possible without the generosity of our event sponsors Asahi, Bidfood, HIT Training, and Sona, and our event supporters Albion Fine Foods, AVE Audio Visual Events, Beillevaire, Boulangerie de Paris, Brakes, Carlsberg Britvic, David Lowrie Fish Merchants, Dennys Brands, Liberty Wines, Smith & Brock, and Wine GB. Finally, a heartfelt thank you to our incredible team of volunteers, and to everyone who attended the event.

The funds raised through this year’s event will go towards delivering the resources needed to enable Only A Pavement Away’s mission to provide pathways out of homelessness into purposeful employment within the hospitality industry.