When lockdown descended local entrepreneurs Chris Mair and Rick Kumar came up with an ingenious, interactive scheme to raise money for charity.
Back at the beginning of lockdown when most of us were frantically stockpiling loo roll and trying – and failing – to secure an Ocado order, two local businessmen were busy doing what they do best – cooking up ideas to make money.
Not just for themselves, you understand, but on a much grander scale. Right from the very first wisp of a plan, they knew that they could make a difference to charities across the country.
One, tech entrepreneur and self-confessed foodie Christopher Mair, holed up at home in St Margarets, began by reflecting on two very obvious lockdown trends.
“Everyone was on Zoom and Houseparty and at the same time there was a huge concentration around cooking at home, as that was one of the few things you could do, and I was thinking ‘everyone’s on Zoom’ ‘everyone’s cooking’ and put two and two together and thought of an idea. I was initially focused on how we could use resources to raise money for the NHS but very quickly realized that other charities also needed the money. With technology as my background, I wanted to use my resources to create something that would do a bit of good.”
His proposal was Cookalong TV, working title Lockdown Larder, where celebrities are invited to prepare their favourite dish online and viewers can bid for the chance for themselves and seven mates to join a video chat with said celebrity while all cooking the same meal.
“I circulated the idea amongst some friends and Rick immediately got on board and we developed the idea from there together,” explains Chris, who is also the founder of Sublime Butter and the Steak Appreciation Society. “As soon as we started to bring it to life, it got bigger and bigger very quickly and here we are – it’s launched, we have celebrities involved and we’ve started to raise money for charity.”
Mortlake-based Rick Kumar, creative brand specialist and a long time friend of Chris, had no doubts about getting on board.
“Once the idea was put under my nose, I knew it had legs. Firstly, it’s a great idea and secondly it’s pretty straightforward and simple to get off the ground. I knew there was an opportunity to help and support charities. We have friends who work in that area and they’ve all been talking to us about how fundraising is hugely on the decline and they’re losing millions.”
The channel, available on YouTube, had its debut in early July with The One Show star Alex Jones, who prepared prawn and courgette fettuccine. Her cook-a-long, still available to watch on the Cookalong TV website archive, has a warm, intimate atmosphere, a little chaotic as everyone gets themselves ready opening the wine, just like any friends and family video call around the country and it’s immediately obvious that there’s huge appeal in the concept.
“The first one with Alex was such entertaining television,” agrees Chris. “The audience wasn’t huge but the feedback we received was universally ‘this is great’ and that’s what excites us most about this project. It’s creative.”
Rick, also a confirmed gastronome, chips in.
“What’s interesting about it, is you’re physically doing something, it’s not like you’re just sat there chatting, which can get a bit awkward. What breaks it up is that there is actually an activity that you need to do. Just going through the recipe and how to cook something creates conversation and the participants can ask the celebrity a few questions and get to understand them a little bit.”
Other stars that have already taken part range from professional chef Giancarlo Caldesi, sports personalities Peter Reid, Rebecca Adlington and Sir Ian Botham to comedians Ronni Ancona and Sally Phillips and Strictly star, Jeannette Manrara. Amongst those coming up in August are chefs Tom Wolfe and Yan Skates, and Bake Off star Bryony May. Charities alight to a new way of their patrons helping them to raise funds were eager to get on board. Amongst those benefitting so far is Action for Children, the Environmental Investigation Agency, the Pink Ribbon Foundation and Celia Hammond Animal Trust.
While Cookalong TV has very much been a charity project born out of lockdown, it should as come as no surprise that these two entrepreneurs, bursting with enthusiasm and firing off ideas like machine gun rounds, are already looking ahead to its future commercial opportunities.
“Cookalong has huge potential to grow into a business that a) generates money for charity and b) generates money for the hospitality industry which is failing at the moment,” says Chris.
“In the first instance our objective is about fundraising by tapping into the community spirit, but what we want to do is turn it into a platform for managing remote cooking experiences. It is a concept that offers chefs and restaurants the chance to generate a new kind of revenue by placing the consumer closer to the chef.”
Further plans also involve possible online pizza parties for kids, getting big brands onboard and growing Cookalong TV to become an open platform where charities can access it independently or businesses can use it for team-building exercises or client experiences.
And so, the clock is ticking and before we say goodbye, I ask Chris and Rick who their dream cook-a-long celebrity would be. Rick is straight in with his choice: Noel Gallagher “probably because of my musical taste and he’s a very funny guy” while Chris simply states he’d like to get Prince Charles. He may be setting his sights high, but watch this space – I for one will not be surprised if HRH is coming into our living rooms sometime soon. Poached Duchy asparagus, anyone?
