abm have worked in partnership with the University for a number of years to incorporate a considerable amount of sustainable practices and procedures which have now been accredited. 

Recognised for our sustainability work during 2011, the University won the Soil Associations ‘Food for Life Bronze Award’ and most recently has been awarded the ‘Good Food on a Public Plate’ award. This award was based on our ‘Feel Good Food Days’ and for becoming a Sustainable Fish City signatory. The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 15^th March at City Hall. We are also now ready to, and in the stages of applying for the Soil Association Silver Award.

The University’s Green Week Fayre, 6^th-10^th February was a great chance to showcase our array of award winning sustainably produced foods.  Visitors got the opportunity to taste the delicious organic, free-range and Fairtrade treats that are being served up at the University by abm.

A huge well done to the abm teams and the University of Greenwich Sustainability Team for all of their hard work – congratulations on your achievements.

For the latest from the sustainability team at the University, visit the Green Greenwich blog at – www.greengreenwich.blogspot.com

We’ve uploaded some tips and tricks to make your Christmas dinner as easy as possible, plus abm’s own fanastic mincemeat slice recipe.

Christmas Dinner Tips and Tricks                 Mincemeat Slice

Top tip from the abm Nutritionist:

 ‘Christmas dinner provides the perfect opportunity to indulge your body with a feast of healthy goodies and hit those 5-a-day veggie targets. Pile your plate full of colourful veggies as they’re packed full of important vistamins and nutrients’

Did you know?

Around 10 million turkeys are eaten every Christmas and the traditional festive feast will cost the nation £305 million on turkeys alone

15,000 tonnes of sprouts will be bought in the UK during the Christmas period and during the festive season, each person will eat an average of 15 sprouts.

175 million mince pies will be bought from Britain’s supermarkets this Christmas. If these were stacked on top of each other, they would stretch 3,262 miles high – that’s nearly 600 times the height of Mount Everest!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at abm!

And their efforts certainly didn’t go unnoticed as the abm movember team raised a total of £287.00 for Prostate Cancer – fantash-tic!

Ending on a hairy high!

Preparing the dish

Pupils at a junior school in London took part in the competition earlier this month. The winning team were siblings who designed a Morrocan style couscous dish.

Yum yum!

As their prize they each received a Waterstones gift voucher, spent the morning in the school’s kitchen helping to prepare their winning dish and served it to their classmates and teachers at lunch time.

The dish was a hit with both pupils and staff at the school! Good job guys!



National School Meals Week takes place every year in November and aims to promote healthy eating as part of a whole school approach whilst encouraging uptake in school meals.

At an abm secondary unit in Hertforshire, students were invited into the kitchen to cook with the abm staff and learn more about food, cooking and healthy eating.

Chef for the day

Students & Staff

Serving lunch

It was a great opportunity for students to get creative with food whilst learning some new cooking skills. Thank you for all of the hard work from everyone involved!

Movember is a worldwide moustache growing charity event which takes place across the world in November to raise awareness for men’s health issues, including prostate cancer.

Steve, Mike and Paul have nominated themselves for the challenge whilst raising money for this worthy cause.

Who will grow the best tache? Keep up to date with the Mo Bros’ progress and donate to the abm team by visiting:

http://mosista.co/abmcatering



Weighing the ingredients

The abm team were invited to take part in The Sutton Academy’s ’Super Learning Day’ on Friday 21st October.

Our Company Nutritionist and Executive Decelopmental Chef educated pupils in nutrition and wellbeing whilst setting them the challenge of making fresh pasta.

Rolling the pasta

Each group had to weigh out raw ingredients and follow instructions from the chef to create varying types of pasta.

“The morning was a huge success and pupils were very receptive to hands on learning. The quality of the pasta produced was exceptional and it was great to be part of such an excellent day’  - Company Nutritionist 

On Tuesday 13th September, abm stopped off at Greece! Students enjoyed an array of traditional Greek food including Chicken Souvalaki, Tzatziki, Taramasalata and a dessert of Baklava.

The day was a hit with staff and students alike, ‘It was great – I can’t wait to collect my next sticker’

Students also had the chance to learn about the Greece’s history at the Olympic Games. Did you know?

 “Greece was the home of the Ancient Olympic Games and was therefore a natural choice as host nation for the revival of the modern Olympic Games in 1896″

Keep checking back for more stories on our Olympic adventure. Next stop – Russia!

Every month, students in our primary and secondary units can look forward to their Olympic themed days, which focus on a selection of participating countries.

We will be visiting 11 countries in total, starting in Greece in September and finishing in Great Britain in July – coinciding with the opening ceremony of the summer games.

The days give students an opportunity to learn about the Olympic history of each featured country, sample its traditional cuisine and collect stickers to map their worldwide journey.

We’ll be publishing stories and pictures from the events – so watch this space!

The team with mascot Miles

At abm we are always setting ourselves new challenges and goals and what better way to achieve them than whilst raising money for an excellent cause!

Providing care in Coventry, Rugby and Warwick, Myton Hospice is a local organisation which abm have supported over the years and is one close to the company’s heart.

The summer downpour on Saturday 12th June did no deter the abm team or their 4,000 fellow competitors from making the annual run from Warwick Castle to Kenilworth Castle. ‘The Two Castles Run’, now in its 29th year is a 10K race organised by Kenilworth Rotary Club in conjunction with Leamington Cycling Athletic Club.

'We did it!!'

Glad to be over the finish line Paul said ‘I am shattered, but it was worth it to be part of such a great event and raise money for our excellent cause. Thanks to Sue Johnson our MD who drove the team bus to the start line and also to our colleagues who came to cheer us on’.

Fitness fan Danielle said ‘It was amazing! I’m already planning the next event, perhaps a mountain hike’ and Tracey added ‘Running with Paul and Danielle for such a good charity made the 10K almost pleasurable’.

It’s estimated that Tracey, Danielle and Paul have raised over £1,000 in sponsorship money for Myton Hospice. A huge well done!

For more details on the Two Castles Run or Myton Hospice please visit the links below:

www.twocastlesrun.org.uk         www.mytonhospice.org