We all love barbeques – lots of people, laughter, the sun shinning and somebody else doing the cooking!  

Elizabeth ‘Libby’ Shaw-Baker, Kitchen Team Leader (on long term secondment from The AWOL Relief team)  at Seascale Primary school had only been at the school for a month when she was asked if she would organise a small barbeque to celebrate the school opening a new garden for the children.

It was a large patch of boggy ground that the school owned, was very bleak to look at and most of the classrooms faced it so the school designed and had the garden laid out so it looked more attractive.  

Libby set about organising the barbeque which over time turned out to be a whole village affair with not only teachers, children and school governors but parents were invited along too.

The opening was combined with celebrating the children’s achievements over the year and along with the barbeque the children sang, danced, did gymnastics displays and had an auction of works of art done by them. 

Margaret Light, Food Service Coordinator for the west area said “Libby is great and has fitted in fabulously with the school, and the children really like her.

The day was a brilliant success with smiles all round.  Libby worked really hard along with her assistant Claire Finley to get all the food ready. They started the food off in the ovens and finished it on the barbeque, serving well over 300 plates of food which was rounded off with fresh strawberries and cream”.

(article  and picture from Cumbria Country Council, Staff Gazette, Autumn 2009)