Following last year’s exciting visit to Zambia, Account Manager John Harvey, his wife Carol and the Life Support team returned to continue their work with the local community in and around Eden Farm. This year’s initiative, Project Kiwi, focused on improving safety, promoting healthier living and supporting education – all values we often see in our day-to-day work at Cuisine Centre.
Working closely with the dedicated staff and volunteers at Eden Farm, the team helped to strengthen facilities and share knowledge. They fitted security lights, electrical sockets, fire alarms and taps for handwashing, as well as providing training in food safety, health and safety and the correct use of PPE (pictured below).
These sessions were designed to help those living at Eden Farm maintain high standards of wellbeing - skills that are just as essential in a farm kitchen as they are in our work at Cuisine Centre.
The team also brought with them a large collection of donations from family, friends and colleagues at Cuisine Centre and across the wider Compass Group. These included personal care items such as toothbrushes, children’s books, pencils, fire alarms and an overwhelming number of bras - an assortment that certainly took some explaining at customs for John! Thankfully, everything made it through and found grateful homes where it could make a real difference.
Beyond the workshops, John and Carol spent much of their time with the 500 schoolchildren supported by Eden Farm. In the classroom, the Life Support team shared lessons on nutrition, hygiene and living well - equipped with the knowledge gained over John’s two decades in catering with Cuisine Centre.
As well as working closely with the children, their visit also included meeting the Ladies of Nurture, a group that supports women living with HIV. The group focuses on developing skills in sewing, crafts and toy-making, providing opportunities for independence and future income. The warmth and creativity of the women were inspirational, and several of their handmade giraffes now sit proudly back in the UK as bright reminders of their resilience.
What made Project Kiwi so powerful was the collaboration behind it: the Life Support team, the Eden Farm community and local volunteers working together with a shared purpose. Each person contributed something unique, creating improvements that will last well into the future.
John will be returning to Africa in 2026 to help extend the charity’s reach to new areas. These wonderful plans came with their own bombshell news: John will be leaving us after 20 years of incredible service with Cuisine Centre to focus solely on philanthropy. We couldn’t be prouder of his ongoing commitment to improving the lives of others - a true and inspiring passion of his (alongside his love of great food, of course). Good luck, John, you will be sorely missed!
