BBC Cook of the Year

Sheppey Matters community chef Mike Spackman is now officially Britain’s best, after clinching the coveted Cook of the Year title in the BBC Radio Four National Food and Farming Awards.

A super big congratulations to our own Community Chef, Mike Spackman and his new found fame. Mike (61), a father of four, from Romney Marsh collected his award at a fabulous cermeony held in Bristol. Mike first joined Sheppey Matters in 2008 and since then has worked hard to share his love of food and cooking with the local community.

Mike and his team of talent assistant chefs  deliver meals from a converted Ford Transit food wagon.  Mike said: “This award is about Sheppey and its diverse communities. It needs to be used to draw attention to the huge variances in the quality of people’s lives in terms of health and wellbeing….the project has, for the first time, suffered its biggest single funding cut from the KCC children’s centre budget…this is at odds with the health statistics, which still paint a gloomy and worrying picture for too many parts of the Island. When I started on Sheppey in 2008, there were areas on the Island where people were dying 10 years earlier than others in Swale. Much of this was down to poor lifestyles and bad diets. We have done a fantastic amount of work but the job is still far from finished.

We wish the community chef team all the best with moving forward into the next phase of this exciting and awarding project. To volunteer with the team or to find out how to get involved and take part in a cooking session or workshop, please call the Sheppey Matters office on 01795 585 335 or email office@sheppeymatters.org.uk.