Press Releases
Lady Waldegrave takes on role as President of the HCA
The HCA is delighted to welcome our new President, Lady Caroline Waldegrave of North Hill OBE. She officially took on her new role during the HCA’s AGM, which followed the National Conference in Birmingham. Lady Waldegrave has had a long and distinguished career in catering and attributes the inspiration for her interest in food and cookery to her mother. In 1971, she joined the catering company, Leiths Good Food, as a cook after training at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London. Four years later, when Leiths School of Food and Wine was established, Lady Waldegrave was appointed Principal. She is now co-owner and Managing Director of Leiths School of Food and Wine. In June 2000 she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to the UK’s catering industry.
Lady Waldegrave is also a cookery writer and health food expert and currently contributes recipes to the Daily Mail. She has conducted numerous television and radio broadcasts, including a ‘Tricks of the Trade’ series on BBC2 in 1994. She has appeared as a judge on Masterchef, and is a qualified wine instructor. She has recently finished working on an updated version of Leiths Fish Bible, originally published in October 2005, and other published titles include: The Healthy Gourmet, Low Fat Gourmet for Sainsbury’s and Leiths Daily Mail Cookbook.
Lady Waldegrave recently joined the Editorial Advisory Board of the BBC, is a former member of the Health Education Authority (1983-1987) and a past chair of the Guild of Food Writers.
She lives in London and Somerset with her husband and their four children, and enjoys adventure holidays, gardening and playing tennis.
Commenting on her new position, Lady Waldegrave said, “I am honoured to have been asked to be the President of the Hospital Caterers Association. It is essential that hospital catering and good quality food continues to be given priority within government and the NHS and that it is seen as an integral part of patient care. As the incoming President, I am keen to enhance the status of health service catering and facilities management and hope that I can help to achieve greater recognition for the profession.”
HCA National Chairman, Alison McCree, added, “I warmly welcome and extend our best wishes to Lady Waldegrave as she takes over the Presidency of the Association and I look forward to working with her. Her in-depth knowledge and experience in the world of food and cookery will be invaluable as we turn our attention to making changes to the way food and beverage provision is operated at ward level in our hospitals. Raising service standards is, we believe, the key to ensuring that patients receive the optimum nutritional benefit and enjoyment they need from mealtimes.”