Great Expectations...

As part of my fundraising efforts for 'Springboard', my boss organised a charity dinner at Lloyds of London, which took place on Wednesday night. The organising team struggled to sell tickets at first, but the attraction of a fabulous meal cooked by four top chefs proved irresistable to the 200+ guests (including me) who came along!

The chefs who cooked a course each are pictured above and include (clockwise from top left):

Anton Edelmann - formerly Chef des Cuisines at the Savoy Hotel, London where he worked for 21 years leading a brigade of 80 chefs and cooking up to 2,000 meals a day.

Mark Hix - runs three of his own restaurants: Hix Oyster and Chop House and Hix Soho in London and Hix Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis, Dorset. In 2008 Hix took part in BBC TV’s Great British Menu  and, as one of the three finalists, took both his famous stargazy pie and perry jelly to Paris to cook for the British Ambassador's banquet.

William Curley is the three-time winner of the Best British Chocolatier Award and was the youngest ever head patissier at the Savoy Hotel at the age of 27.

Giorgio Locatelli owns and runs the fabulous Locanda Locatelli restaurant in London, which holds a coveted Michelin star. It is renowned as one of the best Italian eateries in the UK.

The food was delicious, and the evening held one or two surprises for guests including an entertaining talk by Greg Wallace, presenter of 'The Great British Menu'.

To top the night off, our persuasive auctioneer managed to part guests with their cash for a number of donated 'lots'. Thanks to Catherine Roe, Chris Sprague, Nicky Bland and the support team, we raised over £15,000! What a great Night!

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So it was with nervous anticipation that I went to Old Trafford on Saturday to watch the Manchester Derby, on the back of a poor performance by United the previous week. After a week focussed on the 'Great Wall of China', the omen as we arrived at the stadium looked encouraging...

...ans so it was. Wayne Rooney scored a wonder goal to secure the win for United!