The Mill Outside set to cook up a storm at Royal Lancashire Show

The catering team behind the successful café launched by St Catherine’s Hospice will be cooking up a storm for visitors to this year’s Royal Lancashire Show.

The Mill Outside, the outside catering arm to The Mill Café which opened in the grounds of St Catherine’s Park last year, will set up a pop-up café within the show ground over the course of the event at Salesbury Hall in Ribchester on Friday August 7, Saturday August 8 and Sunday August 9.

The team will also be providing a delicious afternoon tea for the show’s official Ladies’ Day on the Friday, hosted inside a dedicated marquee welcoming flamboyant flower arranger Carl Wilde, a regular on ITV’s This Morning.

Nicola Hanmer, commercial catering manager at The Mill Café – which is now open until 7pm each evening – and St Catherine’s Hospice, said she was delighted to have been picked for the prestigious honour of catering at the show.

The event will also count as one of the 30 special occasions The Mill Outside is hoping to cater for in 2015 – their target in the 30th anniversary Give A Gift campaign, run in conjunction with the Lancashire Evening Post.

Nicola said: “To be chosen as one of the official caterers of the Royal Lancashire Show is a great honour and a fantastic achievement less than a year after we opened our doors at The Mill.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing a pop-up version of our lovely café set up within the show ground and to providing our locally sourced, seasonal dishes to many hungry visitors.

“We have had an extremely busy summer catering for our programme of 30th anniversary events, including providing the food for the VIP marquees at this year’s Symphony at the Tower with Status Quo and Blake. We’ve also been pleased to work with people in the community to help them host their own special occasions, and are looking forward to developing the service further in the area.

“We can cater for all kinds of events covering everything from buffets and barbecues to sit-down meals and afternoon teas. The crucial point is that The Mill and The Mill Outside operate as a social enterprise – with all profits raised coming back to support the specialised care of St Catherine’s Hospice. In the often unpredictable and uncertain world of fundraising, this is providing a sustainable income stream which we are keen to maximise for the benefit of our patients and their families.

“We’re excitedly working towards our Give A Gift appeal target and would love to hear from anyone who has something special to celebrate in the coming months – we’re sure we can work with them to make it a great success!”

Geoff Goodspeed, director of the Royal Lancashire Show, encouraged people to come along to the show, where attractions include livestock displays, crafts, a countryside village and live entertainment covering everything from quad and motorcycle stunt riders to show-jumping and sheep shearing.

He said: “The show is a fabulous celebration of our great British countryside and a brilliant family day out to boot – there’s so much to see and do, you may need to visit on more than one day to take it all in!

“We can’t wait to welcome The Mill Outside to Salesbury Hall and to support such a great cause as St Catherine’s Hospice.”

The Royal Lancashire Show takes place from Friday August 7 to Sunday August 9. To buy your tickets, click here.

To find out more about the Give A Gift campaign and how you, your school or business can show your support visit stcatherines.uat-web.co.uk, email giveagift@stcatherines.uat-web.co.uk or call 01772 696290.

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