Glenn Roach at Taypark House was delighted to link up with Dundee United to bring some St Patrick’s Day happiness to people in the community.
Taypark House Hotel has teamed up with Dundee United Football Club to provide 100 St Patrick’s Day-themed afternoon teas to people in the city.
And having just served up 217 afternoon teas for Mother’s Day, chef/director Glenn Roach is ready to play his part in the community.
Glenn explained: “With Dundee United Community Trust on St Patrick’s Day we are delivering afternoon tea parcels to 100 people.
“I was actually looking to see what we could do for the community when Jamie Kirk down at Dundee United Community Trust reached out to me asking if I would be interested in getting involved and I absolutely jumped at the chance.
“It’s important in these times more than any that we try and do as much as we can for other people. I am glad that we can do it.”
And thanks to the partnership, families today are tucking into some delicious treats from Taypark House.
“It’s going to be a St Patrick’s Day-themed afternoon tea for 100 families that need a pick me up,” continued Glenn.
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“Dundee United Community Trust give them food parcels so while they will still be getting a food parcel they will get an afternoon tea from us on top of that.
“It is something quite close to my heart. I didn’t grow up in the most well-off background myself, so 100% I want to do as much as I can for people and families.”
Community effort
The tasty savoury treats included in the boxes were provided by Just Baked By Ryan Fowler.
Ryan was delighted to be involved and added that he is always keen to do something for the community.
He said: “We provided the pies, sausage rolls and sandwiches in the afternoon tea box. Taypark invited us to get involved and we were absolutely delighted to do so as love to give back to the community.
“We have a great relationship with the guys at Taypark, so it was great to do something with them.”
Hundreds of teas
The community initiative follows on from an extremely busy Mother’s Day for Glenn who has been trying to keep himself busy while his business has been closed to the public due to coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
The number of afternoon teas he did took Glenn completely by surprise.
“It came as a bit of shock to be honest. I think it was just a busy day across the industry which was a good thing. I think people have adapted to lockdown, but we don’t want people to get too adapted so they don’t want to come back out again,” he joked.
“However, it’s fantastic to see throughout the industry that it wasn’t just us who had a really busy day. It was great to see such amazing local support as well.
“I think we ended up doing 217 afternoon teas with the majority in the DD postcode and a couple in the KY area.”
Themed options
Mother’s Day and St Patrick’s Day boxes are just the latest themed takeaway options that the team at Taypark have been providing.
“We took over Taypark House at the beginning of November. During the first lockdown I was off completely, but during this one I had the chance to get back to work and stay in work so just wanted to see what we could do,” Glenn continued.
“We have done all sorts from New Year’s boxes to Burns Night boxes. We do a straight Sunday roast takeaway box every week and we have been very popular for afternoon teas. Just trying to keep busy to keep myself sane more than anything.
“It’s just about trying to get that story out there that we are new here, we are different and we are not the same as before and I want it to be a place where you can bring your family, bring your dog, bring your girlfriend.
“We want to be open to everyone – it doesn’t matter if you are a family of 10 or a Valentine’s night couple, anyone can come down to Taypark and enjoy what is a beautiful area. It’s a hidden gem – a lot of people don’t know it.”
