We got a call last week from our General Manager, Alex from our Shoreditch restaurant. A lovely lady called Lynne popped by (totally by surprise) and drop off the most beautiful, handmade collage artwork of the calçotada experience and a note asking for help for her to raise money for Hackney’s St. Joseph’s hospice. 

Alex had an idea to help Lynne. For every calçotada menu we host at Shoreditch we’ll be donating 50p for every menu to the hospice and run the half Tough Mudder in April. 

We would also like to encourage you to head over to their website and donate what you can. They offer an incredible, local support for people affected by serious, life-limiting illness.

Lynne’s letter:

"Memorable Meals – Calçotada

A note of the artwork created in St. Joseph’s Hospice Art Therapy Project. 

Hi. My name is Lynne and I am an outpatient at the Hospice. Please read a

In the mid-1980s and 2000s I taught English in Cambrils, Tarragona, Catalunya. It was great. In the winter months, my Spanish friends and I would go up to the rugged hillsides around Tarragona to have a calçotada with lots of wine! They came armed with hundreds of calçots, newspaper and homemade romesco sauce.

On a dug-out-grill, the calçots were charred, then wrapped in newspaper to steam. Then…FUN: we would get so mucky by the holding the blackened outsides while pulling out the soft steaming central stems. We dipped them in the delicious romesco sauce – which we held above our heads and slowly chewed…HEAVEN! Ahh. So more-ish. 

My life since my diagnosis would not have been the same with out St. Joseph’s. 

Please give. Thank you, Lynne."

St Joseph’s Hospice opened in Hackney in 1905, and since then has been caring for and supporting people affected by serious illness in eight London boroughs. We work to improve the quality of life of more than 2,100 patients with life-limiting conditions each year, helping them live life to the full, to the very last.