Charity VfL 2024 Awards Now Open… Awards for Excellence in Veg*n Care Catering.

Care setting charity Vegetarian for Life (VfL) is on the lookout for 2024's rising stars in vegan and vegetarian care catering.

This year marks the eighth VfL Awards for Excellence in Veg*n Care Catering. With more vegans and vegetarians moving into residential care every year, this annual award recognises those who are pioneering the way in modern care catering. 

We're delighted to be returning to the Houses of Parliament for this year's ceremony, which is expected to be held on the afternoon of Thursday 12 September.

“At VfL, we think that care caterers who make a special effort to create delicious and nutritious vegan and vegetarian meals deserve special recognition – and this is what are awards are all about.” Says Amanda Woodvine CEO.

The categories for the 2024 Excellence in Veg*n Care Catering awards are:

Vegan/Vegetarian Care/Hospital Caterer of the Year. We want to find a care/hospital caterer who is making a wide range of delicious and nutritious meals for older vegans or veggies in a care setting (open to individuals and teams).

Vegan/Vegetarian Supplier of the Year. We want to find a supplier that is offering either a great range of veg*n products OR a single veg*n product that shows innovation, taste and variety. Your product(s) may be standalone or used as a key ingredient in a recipe and must be specifically available to care/hospital caterers.

Chefs’ Hero Product. We’re looking for chefs to nominate their favourite go-to hero product when developing menus and recipes for vegans and vegetarians in care homes and hospitals.

Most Innovative Vegan/Vegetarian Recipe. We’re looking for a recipe that can be used within a care or hospital setting or simply cooked at home. We’re looking for great taste, value and innovative use of ingredients.

(Submitted recipes will be shared with VfL members and stakeholders and featured on all media platforms.)

The Beulah Charity Trust Special Recognition Award. This is for that special someone who strives to make the UK a better place for older vegans and vegetarians. This could be a volunteer, a resident, a staff member or anyone pursuing this objective.

To enter or nominate a potential winner fill in the short form here, letting VfL know who you want to nominate and why.

Please be quick though, the deadline for entries is fast approaching. Submissions are needed by 12pm on Thursday 18 July.

Click here for a look at our past winners.

First launched in 2016, the Annual Awards highlight the importance of catering well for older vegans and vegetarians. With growing numbers of vegans and vegetarians being supported by the care sector, it is no surprise that news of the awards has been positively received by care organisations.

It’s becoming impossible to ignore the demand for top-notch veggie care catering.

Ends

Editors notes

VfL has been hard at work uncovering how dietary preferences are changing in UK care homes – and recently surveyed 1,000 care homes to find out how many residents are vegan or vegetarian. Our new survey reveals some surprising trends in veganism and vegetarianism among older adults over the past 5 and 10 years. Watch this space for more details!

Vegetarian for Life is a charity registered in England and Wales, number 1120687 | Company number 6294709.

“Since there are only three fully vegetarian care homes in the UK, one of Vegetarian for Life’s major goals is to improve the standard of vegan and vegetarian catering in existing homes. We seek to do this through our UK List, which is a geographical listing of organisations and care homes that make a special effort to cater for vegetarians and vegans.

We are striving towards a vision where at least 1 in every 6 UK care homes are members of our UK List – and 1 in every 100 will be Vegetarian for Life accredited.”