Ready-Steady-Cook-Mediterranean at The Wesley Centre

In 2007, two local celebrity chefs, from a well known Huddersfield restaurant, generously gave their time and talents to take part in a 'Ready-Steady-Cook-Mediterranean' afternoon in The Wesley Centre. Proceeds from this event went to support a small UK based charity 'Medical Support in Romania'.

Here's a little background....

Zalau is the capital of Salaj Distric. It is located in the northwest of the country in the foothills of the beautiful Meses mountains.

The Salaj District Hospital in Zalau serves a population of approximately 200,000. It provides for all the general medical and surgical needs of the community.

Romania is slowly recovering from the social and economic difficulties resulting from 40 years of communist oppression. Living standards are improving though making ends meet in day to day life continues to be challenging for most Romanians.

There is still a large gap in health care standards between Romania and the rest of Europe. The government funding of Salaj District Hospital is sufficient only to pay the wages of the staff (which are significantly less compared to other countries) and to cover food, medication and very basic sanitary and cleaning materials. There are very few, if any, funds available for renovations, proper maintenance, or replacement of old equipment and furniture, much of which dates from the 1970's. And unlike the UK, where most hospitals benefit from community and voluntary support in addition to government funding, Romania does not yet have a strong indigenous third sector.

For the last 18 years (prior to 2007) the hospital was supported by 'Medical Support in Romania'. MSR focussed on hospital wide projects, such as replacing X-Ray machines, developing a new sterile services department, and installing new laundry equipment. These have had a dramatic impact on the safety and quality of care available for patients. However the daily experience of most patients in the hospital leaves a lot to be desired. For example there are no chairs in the wards, which means nowhere for patients to sit out of their beds, or for their visitors to sit. Mattresses, pillows and linen are very old, stained and threadbare. There are no curtains between the beds, which are as many as eight in a room. There are very few toilets and showers and these are generally in very poor condition.

Annette, Eliza, and Benita all met because of their work with MSR. Together with Sue T, they travelled to Romania to visit friends, family and to enjoy the many beautiful places Romania has to offer. During their time there, they visited the hospital, to give the funds that were raised as a result of this event, to support in the hospital in improving the experience of the patients.