If you'd like to make a donation online direct to Breast Cancer Care, please visit www.justgiving.com/eatonthegreen (secure site). Remember we can claim gift aid from your donation if you're a UK tax payer!

How it all began

Most people's NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS involve losing weight, making use of that gym membership that seemed a good idea last summer or making house improvements... but not Craig. After a long shift and a few drams during the festive season, Craig Wilson, chef and proprietor of Eat on the Green pledged to raise £10,000 for charity in 2008. He wanted to recognize a particular organisation close to his heart and one that he had heard so much praise for- Breast Cancer Care (www.breastcancercare.org.uk). Craig started almost immediately with fundraising plans and the first donations were collected at our annual Hogmanay house party from our loyal and generous guests. We raised £500 that night and with this success, Craig rattled his sporran for more pennies at his private party on the 1st January 2008, bringing the total to £1300. Various competitions, donations and raffles ensued and by the end of the first quarter, the total had topped £5000.

The Food & Fun Day, 11th May 2008

But Craig had bigger ambitions than the odd raffle. He wanted to hold a Food & Fun day, here in the village of Udny Green. A day that celebrated the best of Aberdeenshire in terms of local produce, the importance of eating well and living well, bringing together the community to have fun, but most of all to raise money for this very worthy cause. The day was set for Sunday 11th May, the committee was selected, the residents were notified and the planning began. From what started as a community fete, a festival emerged and hundreds of people were involved in making it a great day for all. There were bands, competitions, outdoor activities, cooking demonstrations, stalls, a farmer’s market, gourmet BBQ, a VIP lounge, a camera crew, 3000 people and the First Minister for Scotland! The list goes on but you get the idea- it was big! So big, that we raised a whopping £13,500 on that day alone. Tired, smelly and very emotional, Craig and his similarly wobbit crew could not believe this phenomenal result. Months of planning had paid off and we were, as of 11th May 2008, now at a fundraising total of £19k - almost double what Craig set out to achieve 5 months earlier.

The North-East's first ever 24 hour cook-a-thon!

Craig pulled out a recipe for success on the 20th & 21st September with his 24 hour cookathon, which raised another £10,000 for Breast Cancer Care. That makes a phenomenal £28,000 in funds raised this year by the 'Kilted Chef' and his fundraising committee for this worthy cause.

The cookathon consisted of four sittings kicking off with a Posh Ladies Lunch on Saturday, followed by a Decadent Dinner, a late night Casino Royale Dinner and ending with a Brilliant Brunch at 12pm on Sunday. Guests were treated to an Oscar's style entrance as they arrived on the red carpet and were snapped by paparazzi and asked for autographs by fans. Our posh ladies enjoyed a fun, feminine and fushia pink atmosphere at lunch and bid furiously for Craig to cook in their own homes as one of the auction items. Mr Stewart Spence of The Marcliffe, who acted as compere for the lunch kindly offered wine to accompany the auctioned chef prize. The Decadent dinner was hosted by BBC radio's silky smooth presenter Mark Stephen. Local magician John McGrath and swing singer, Billy Main contributed to the line-up for guests. Regular customers Alistair & Sheila Gauld celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary at our Decadent dinner and stayed on to celebrate through the night as Press and Journal columnist Peter Mitchell showed his stamina as compere for the Casino Royale Dinner. Resident 'Bond girl' Lauren Vaitkus welcomed guests on the red carpet at 1am in her flamboyant garb whilst Scotland's top Elvis impersonator entertained guests. The Brilliant Brunch was a classic, fresh and relaxed affair and Mark Stephen returned as host whilst rising star Flora Cook (24, from Stonehaven) strummed her acoustic guitar and sang lazy Sunday love songs with effortless perfection.

Craig hard at work


The cookathon committee, from left to right: April Ritchie, Lindsay Stenhouse, Craig Wilson, Lynne hamilton, Sheila Wilson and Lauren Vaitkus


A Little Taste of Eat On The Green


Entertainment at Casino Royale sitting


Our Guests Dresses to Impress!


Loyal customers and friends, Sheila & Alistair Gauld celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary with us at the Decadent Dinner


Our compere, Peter Mitchell for the Casino Royale Dinner

Notable donations to date

• £200 was donated by Mr Stewart Spence of the Marcliffe Hotel
• Regular customers, Mr & Mrs Carr donated £200
• Mrs Burr of Insch donated £100
• Jennifer Craig, customer and friend, donated £100
• Mr and Mrs Millar and friends played a round of golf before their meal at EOTG in May. The gents pledged to donate £20 each if they lost to their wives. £140 was raised- well done ladies!
• Gordon & Freda Machray of Insch donated £100
• Kintore Summer Festival Committee donated £100 for Craig’s live cookery demonstrations
• The Best of Aberdeen donated £100
• Elaine Robertson asked guests to her 40th Birthday party to make a donation to Craig’s cause- £450 was raised
• Leanna Will held a ‘Through the Ages’ wedding party and asked her guests for donations which amounted to £80
• £700 was raised by Mr & Mrs Stewart of Bieldside, Aberdeenshire with their auction and private dinner catered by Craig
• Donna Christie, Personal Wellness Coach and friend of Craig’s ran herself ragged for our cause with her triathlon in August and raised over £600
• Jamie & April Ritchie donated a signed KT Tunstall guitar to be auctioned at the 24 hour cookathon, which raised £400
• Mr Stewart Spence of The Marcliffe donated wine to accompany the Auctioned chef prizes at the 24 hour cookathon
• Ms xx, a former resident of Udny Green now living down under donated £200 when she heard of Craig’s fundraising activities
• Mark Stephen donated a Limited Edition Robert Andrew print to the auction for the 24 hour cookathon
• Local artist Maggie Williams has donated three beautiful paintings to be auctioned at our events
• The Store at Foveran donated the meat used for the Brilliant Brunch at the 24 hour cookathon
• Alison Macdonald of Shen Jewellery (www.shenonline.co.uk) raised £350 for our cause through sales of her beautiful pink murano glass jewellery pieces designed exclusively for sale at Eat on the Green in aid of Breast Cancer Care (see foot of page for details of how to purchase these)
• Mr Hasell had a bet with his brother-in-law, Mr Hollie which he won and Mr Hollie’s forfeit was to donate £500 to our worthy cause!
• Mrs Norma Watson of Texas, USA- a former resident of Udny Green generously donated £200

A big thank you to the following sponsors of our cause.
Aberdeen Football Club www.afc.co.uk
Acorn Signs (Inverness) www.acornsigns.co.uk
Ann Summers Store, Aberdeen www.annsummers.co.uk
Atmosphere Lighting & Sound www.atmospherelighting.co.uk
Baxters www.baxters.com
Berry’s of Oldmeldrum, 01651 872 237
Bees Knees od Oldmeldrum, www.bsknees.co.uk
Biotherm www.biotherm.co.uk
Caber Coffee www.cabercoffee.com
Campbells www.campbellsbutchers.com
Canadian Natural Resources www.crnl.com
Catwalkers of Ellon www.catwalkers.co.uk
Celtic FC www.celticfc.net
Clydesdale Bank Plc www.cbonline.co.uk
David Lumsden, Editor/ Producer of Food & Fun Day DVD www.davidlumsden.com
David Fanthrope Personal Trainer, JJB Fitness Club, Aberdeen 01224 213933
Debenhams store, Aberdeen www.debenhams.com
Diageo Ltd www.diageo.com
Dolce Vita flowers, www.dolcevitaflowers.com
Dundee United FC www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk
Elmbank taxis of Oldmeldrum, 01651 872 618
Grampian Antiques of Inverurie 01467 620103
Grampian Catering Equipment www.cateringequipmentscotland.co.uk
Graeme Pyper, Be Free www.befreeonline.co.uk
Hammerton Store, Aberdeen 01224 324 449
Hollywood Cars, Aberdeen www.hollywoodcars.net
Interiors Unlimited, www.interiorsunlimited.co.uk
Inverurie Garden Centre, Inverurie, 01467 621402
Inverarity Vaults wine supplier, www.inverarity-vaults.com
Irvine Robertson Wine, www.irwines.co.uk
JG Ross Bakers www.jg-ross-bakers.co.uk
Jon Laing Photography www.jonlaing.co.uk
Juliet Gamba Jewellery 01358 723665
Kintore Trophy Centre sales@kintoretrophycentre.com
Knowles Food Services Ltd 01224 646969?
La’Orr Wedding Boutique www.laorrboutique.co.uk
Leopard Magazine www.leopardmag.co.uk
Lochter Oudoor Activity Centre www.lochter.co.uk
Lush store, Aberdeen https://shop.lush.co.uk
Marks & Spencer, Inverurie, www.marksandspencer.com
Meldrum House, www.mitchells-scotland.com
Molton Brown www.moltonbrown.co.uk
Morrison Construction www.morrisonconstruction.co.uk
Newmachar Golf Club info@newmachargolfclub.co.uk
Nino Khan, Nino’s Masala and Fine Indian Cuisine, ninokhan2003@hotmail.com
No 1 magazine, www.no1magazine.co.uk
Original FM, www.originalfm.com
Ortak store, Aberdeen www.ortak.co.uk
P & M Quality Assurance, 01467 681 700
Past Times Store, Aberdeen www.pasttimes.co.uk
Peters Design & Print www.peters.co.uk
Philip King Kilt Hire www.philip-king.com
Sangs (Banff) Ltd www.sangs.co.uk
Skin clinic, Aberdeen www.sknclinics.co.uk 0844 800 0323
Shen Jewellery Collection, www.shenonline.co.uk 0845 0034225
Signature menswear store, Aberdeen www.signature-menswear.com
Silver City Cleaners Ltd 01224 826762
Speedy hire (tools) www.speedyhire.co.uk
Steve & Donna Christie, Personal Wellness & Business Coaches www.sdcwholelife.com
Thainstone House, www.swallow-hotels.com
The Full Range Culinary consultants www.georgemcivor.com
The Friendly Food Company, Oldmeldrum, 01651 872351
The House Salon @ The Hilton Treetops, Aberdeen, www.hilton.co.uk
The Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen, www.marcliffe.com
The Studio photographers, Aberdeen www.thestudio-aberdeen.com
The Store at Foveran, www.foveranstore.com
Town and County Land Rover www.townandcounty.landrover.co.uk
Trend Magazine www.trendmagazine.co.uk
Waterstones, www.waterstones.co.uk

Last but not least, thanks to our tireless and devoted committee members... Geraldine Harwood, Lauren Vaitkus, Keith Machray, Lynne Hamilton, April Ritchie, Moira Goosey, Lindsay Stenhouse, Andrew Booth and Sandy Milton.

Our running total stands at a phenomenal £32,600- thank you!
(updated 4 January 2009)

Craig has tripled his initial pledge of £10k, and whilst we are taking a break from the big fundraising events for now, we are still selling our charity DVD. It shows the highlights of the Food & Fun Day and contains footage of Craig cooking four of his favourite recipes here at Eat on the Green, for you to recreate in your very own kitchen! DVDs cost £5 (buy two, get a third free) and all proceeds go to Breast Cancer Care, so buy now by calling 01651 842 337 or email: enquiries@eatonthegreen.co.uk.