Wraysbury café owner fundraising to launch eatery for young chefs in Zanzibar

A village café owner from Wraysbury is working to serve up a recipe for change by launching a café for young chefs in Zanzibar.

Garry Hall launched The Kitchen, in Wraysbury High Street, alongside his wife Nicky in 2022 and the pair have since turned the venue into an award-winning eatery.

But after a hosting a charity fundraiser at the café for Kenyan schoolchildren, Garry was inspired to make a difference himself.

The 60-year-old was put in touch with the Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation which aims to build brighter futures for young people in Zanzibar, a poverty-affected archipelago off the coast of Tanzania.

The Wraysbury business owner made the long-haul trip to the island at the end of February and started working alongside the charity’s founder, Gasica, to make his dream a reality.

Garry said: “I was shellshocked at the poverty in the township where I stayed.

“My immediate feeling was the people I saw in the street had nothing.

“It’s a very poverty-stricken island but they all smiled and they were all happy because they didn’t have any cares or worries.”

The Wraysbury chef spent time training a team of young Muslim women aged 18 to 19 how to rustle up a selection of tasty dishes.

This included a twist on the British classic, the scotch egg, which was coated in a spicy mashed potato.

The foundation also secured a site near the state university in Fuoni which it hopes to turn into a purpose-built café.

Garry has launched a GoFundMe appeal with the aim of raising £10,000 to kit out the café with all the equipment required for a commercial kitchen.

He said: “You’ve got all the students coming and going from the university so we thought it was the perfect site.

“I’m 60 years old and I just felt at this time in my life it was the right time for me to do something good before it’s too late.

“I really have found some friends for life out there and I’m sure I’ll be going back out there with my family once the café is open.”

The GoFundMe appeal has already raised almost £6,000 and further fundraising is planned once the foundation finalises its construction plans for the café.

Garry added: “One of Learning 4 Life’s key messages is they truly want to inspire children and young people to do something with their lives.

“Some of these people genuinely think life is just how it is with the poverty level. You can inspire them to want better for themselves.”

Visit www.gofundme.com and search Learning 4 Life Foundation, The Kitchen Zanzibar for further details about the appeal.