The Livery Companies' Initiative during the Pandemic 2020 - 2021

The scope of the Livery Companies' Initiative

 
When the pandemic struck in early 2020, the Master of the Drapers' Livery Company, Tim Orchard, and Liveryman of the Drapers' Livery Company asked themselves what they could do by way of giving practical help during the first lockdown, and they decided that the best way was to use the considerable in-house catering capacity of Drapers's Hall (which of course was closed for its normal function) and cook meals for the staff of the City's hospitals. 

The Clerk, Col Richard Winstanley, took up the reins and found support and connections with several other Livery companies as well as links to the City's hospitals and by 16th April, the first batch of 200 meals was supplied to the Royal London Hospital, transported by London cabbies through the Hackney Carriage Drivers' Company. The Grocers', Merchant Taylors' and Fishmongers' Companies all joined in and eventually more than 60 companies contributed to an initiative that provided more than 170,000 meals for tired and hungry workers of Bart's NHS Health Trust as well as community projects in East London. 

The Drapers' have published a cookbook which, although not necessarily of the very meals that were supplied, are created by the team of chefs who cooked all the thousands of meals produced as part of this initiative, which has been so much a natural outset for the Livery Companies' philanthropic mission. 

The Chefs - Selva Muthusamy, Merchant Taylor's, Stefan Pini, Fishmongers. 

Mark Page, Drapers, Graham Pratt, Grocers and Emma Spofforth, Party Ingredients seen in front of a painting of the Queen (who is Member of the Drapers Livery Company) in then Court Dining Room at Drapers' Hall. 

The Livery Company Cookbook was born out of the Livery Kitchen Initiative, seen here with a Drapers' Raphael Seat in the background. To order a copy, e-mail events@thedrapers.co.uk  

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