Duston man cooks his way through lockdown by serving up 4,000 meals

A Duston man has thanked the public for supporting local businesses after he has dished up 4,000 individual meals during the pandemic to the elderly and those self isolating.

Graham Waughman has been laying on buffets for almost two decades at weddings, wakes and parties but as of January 7 this year he wanted to bring his outside catering all under one roof.His first cafe, GJ @ The Square, opened at Duston Community Centre - selling nothing but homemade breakfasts, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and cakes made by his own fair hands.

But as lockdown was announced on March 23 Graham had to quickly think on his feet about what to do next as the hospitality industry suddenly saw events cancelled overnight.

"My whole business went in one day," Graham said. "The cafe, the outside catering, BBQs, weddings, pig roasts, funerals and weddings. You name it, every function in hospitality just went.

"It was horrific. I thought 'I had worked 17 years to get where I got and in one day I literally lost everything'. The outside catering and cafe was my life. It was really scary times, I must admit."

When Graham first started cooking nearly two decades ago he began making food that could be kept frozen, which he replicated in the first week after lockdown to sell to those who could not get to the shops.

Since lockdown, Graham and his partner Cheryl have cooked up almost 4,000 meals, which have been delivered by them and a volunteer, Lisa, twice a week to villages including Harpole, Kislingbury and Moulton.

"People have really, really warmed to them," he said. "Lots of people have asked if we can continue doing this and so it's something we are definitely going to carry on doing.

Aside from the freezer meals, Graham and his partner have also been putting together afternoon tea and BBQ packs for weekends.

Looking ahead, Graham is currently redesigning his menu and is hoping to introduce a burger-themed Friday night takeaway service every two weeks, and a Saturday breakfast and a Sunday lunch club every month.

He added: "The support has really helped me. Pete Wisby, the facility's manager of Duston Parish Council has been a great help through Covid-19. Thank you to everyone who has been supporting small businesses."