Caw Golden Years luncheon served up by celebrity chef

Written by Niamh Scullion

Caw Golden Years Luncheon Club in Derry/Londonderry had a special surprise treat on Monday.

Chef Ian Orr cooks for Caw Golden Years Luncheon Club.

One of the club members, Iris Orr, brought her celebrity chef grandson along to help to cook and serve up a mouth-watering lunch of braised steak, creamed potatoes and vegetables.

Ian Orr, Iris’s grandson, won the Chef of the Year Ireland Award in 2013 and normally works in the city’s Browns Restaurant and Champagne Lounge. But he was more than pleased to add an extra gourmet element to the usual social gatherings this week, as a way to celebrate the difference the National Lottery’s Old is Gold Campaign makes to the lives of the club members.

“The Caw Luncheon Club is about so much more than cooking and eating,” said Ian. “It helps bring older people together with the vital ingredients of fun and companionship. And I know how much everyone who attends enjoys taking part – My own granny goes every week.”

Chef Ian Orr serves up a surprise dish to his grandmother, Iris Orr, at the Caw Luncheon Club.

Linda Watson, co-ordinator of Caw Nelson/Drive Action Group, said: “We were delighted to have Ian Orr join us at the Luncheon Club today. His food was delicious and his company even better.

“Our luncheon clubs are tremendous social occasions which allow older people to enjoy a healthy meal and each other’s company.”

Caw and Nelson Drive Action Group was awarded £337,835 from The Big Lottery Fund’s Connecting Older People programme in 2013 for a five-year project to help improve the health and social needs of older people in the area and to tackle their issues of loneliness, poverty, health issues and community safety.