Catering success - putting the needs of residents first

Over the last twelve months the Catering Team at Staffs Housing have been working hard to make sure what's on offer meets residents’ needs.

The experienced team who have worked at the likes of The Savoy, provide meals for residents, staff and visitors at our three over 55s villages across Stoke-on-Trent: Rowan Village, West End Village and Bradeley Village. As part of the extensive on-site facilities each village has to offer to provide homes built around the needs of residents.

When the catering services had to close in the height of the pandemic the team were resilient and introduced a new home delivery service. Making sure residents were still able to get food if they couldn’t get out to do their food shop.

Now Covid-19 restrictions have lifted, the service has reopened and the team are busy working to make sure the village cafes and restaurants are a safe space residents will want to meet and eat in.

Brian Watt, Catering Manager tells us more: “My team and I have been working hard behind the scenes to make the catering services great.

“Even though we can now open to capacity we’re making sure to keep the health of residents a priority. We have thorough cleaning and hygiene standards to keep people safe.

“We’re also eager to make sure that what we have on offer is what residents want to eat. We held feedback sessions earlier this year to find out what more residents wanted to see on the menu. And we’ve been able to put some suggestions in place by introducing new menus across all cafes and restaurants.

“We also have a number of new and exciting offers. Including afternoon tea for £6.50per person, picnic packages from £8, and buffet packages from £6.50 perfect for an event or meeting.

“We’ve had great success by putting on theme nights across our villages too. We served traditional haggis, neeps, and tatties alongside traditional Scottish bagpipes for entertainment for our Burns Night celebration. Our Valentine’s Day meal was also very popular too.

Bradeley Village resident Carol was blown away by the catering team’s efforts for Valentine’s Day earlier this year. She said: “The team are working hard to make the Bistro here the best it’s ever been.

“I was blown away by the team’s efforts for Valentine’s Day. They had gone to so much effort to make people feel special. They’d put hearts everywhere, chocolates, love hearts and glass vases with real roses in. There were even heart-shaped napkins too!

“They even let us take the roses home. I took one up to my husband and surprised him with it. It’s the little touches like that I appreciate. It made our Valentine’s Day and helped those who live alone feel loved too.”

If you’d like to make a suggestion, provide feedback or if you have an idea for the next theme night get in touch with Brian by emailing: brian.watt@staffshousing.org.uk