An MBE, dinner at the Gherkin and lots of purple ... - Hospitality Action

e:action Ark Foundation
The Ark Foundation
Both students and lecturers alike have been keeping themselves busy
in 2008. Here’s what they’ve been up to...
Firstly, thank you to Portsmouth
Highbury College who kindly
donated £500 from their Student
Enrichment Fund towards furthering
the important work of the Ark
Foundation. On a slightly different
note, students from Mid Cheshire
College got stuck into fundraising
with some biscuit selling and leg
waxing (see below)!
14
As shown in the photo, the leg
waxing was an act of bravery in aid
of the charity but together with the
biscuit selling, it raised £223 so it
was all worth it! Thank you to them
all for their efforts!
Having received regular visits
from Ken Crosland, the students
of City College Brighton’s catering
department decided to hold a raffle
to show their support for the Ark
Foundation.
They raised a fantastic £663
to which Ken commented, “This
money is the lifeblood of the charity
but even more important is the
absolutely amazing commitment
the students have put in to it, and
And here’s an update on our presenters...
the direction and support given by
the staff at the college. I come to
City College once a year to deliver
the industry awareness seminar
on alcohol and drugs. The college
is amazingly supportive and the
seminar is always well received
by the students so to have this
kind of support given in return is
superb”.
Left: Ken
collecting the
cheque from
City College
The original idea for the Ark came from Michael Quinn MBE an acclaimed and respected Chef at the top of his career as
Maitre Chef de Cuisine at The Ritz Hotel, London who through stress, pressure of work and unsociable hours, turned to
alcohol. During his recovery he felt he wanted to put something back into the industry which for many years had provided him
with work. He is currently in Australia, spreading the message of Ark globally. See www.arkglobal.org for more info.
Michael is joined by Peter Kay who is also Chief Executive of Tony Adam’s Sporting Chance charity for footballers. Peter
delivers his heartfelt personal story of near death and recovery to raise awareness of the dangers of alcoholism and addiction
to young people entering the industry. Both Peter and Michael have been recognized for their commitment to the Ark
Foundation through the Special Award Catey in 2007.
Ken Crosland has been a member of the Ark team for over four years. His unique story of misuse began whilst working in a
number of New York’s top restaurants and clubs, and continued in a successful sales management career for a number of
leading media and entertainment companies. He has subsequently been in recovery for almost ten years. Ken specialises in
delivering the Ark message to the corporate world through the Ark for Business (see page 15).
In June 2004, while working at Jamie Oliver’s ‘Fifteen’, Chris Mordue watched Peter Kay deliver an alcohol and drugs seminar.
Here he identified the seriousness of his alcohol and drug addiction, made the important phone call reaching out for help and
has remained sober ever since, passionate about working with young people.
Kevin Burlison has recently joined the Ark team. Having worked with top chefs including Joel Robuchon, Michael Quinn at
Ettingham Park Hotel and under David Miller at The Ritz, Kevin earned recognition and respect within the industry. By 2000 he
had burnt out and was deep in alcoholism. However, through AA, Kevin got his life back on track, has been sober for 17
months and is helping to spread the important Ark message.