Day 6972

Okay so... Tea party has had a bit of a hiccup :< 

So I started with a phone call and then mailed Denise

Hello again :) 
Okay so, the plan. Once a month on a Wednesday afternoon from 5pm-8pm ( though 7pm works as well if you need it to be earlier ) I would like to hold tea party meet ups in the Eldon cafe.
Each meet up shall have a different theme, these are this years ideas.
- Alice in wonderland - March 26th
- Gaming - April 23rd
- Space ( Though this will be held off campus ) - May 21st
- Human chess - Sept 24th
- Halloween - Oct 29th
- Murder mystery - Dec 24th

We will be able to provide our own kettles and coffee machines which would ideally be set up kinda near the entrance opposite the cafe though I'm unsure about plug socket availability and am open to suggestions or if this is isn't allowed another way to make the tea :) ( and other drinks for people who don't like tea....)
Food wise it will vary from theme to theme but as a rule there will be a mix of home made and bought food. Anyone making home made food will be supervised by or have taken the food exam at the union. We are planning on booking the computer for a day and getting everyone to do it in the next week or so. Bought food will probably be bought from a wholesalers/Local shops. Am also interested in contacting local cafes and seeing if they would want to sponsor us with food though I doubt this will happen before September if at all.
General set ups for each one would be, table cloths, a tier of sandwiches, scones, cakes, in a center piece
Apologies for contacting you so late I wasn't sure who to ask until recently....Sorry about this.
Thank you for your time if you need to know anything else feel free to email me or call me on - insert my number here ;) -
Thank you~
Rosie

The response

Dear Rosie

Having spoken to my line manager we are unable to support this event and offer the Café as a venue
You would also need to seek permission from the Head of Catering should you wish to bring any food items in that have not been provided or made on site.
Many thanks
Denise 

:< But why???? So I asked o.o

Can I ask as to the reason why you are unable to please? 
Thank you
Rosie
Alternatively would I be able to contact your manager directly please? 

>.> Was nots happy you can see the shortness <.<..... Kinda mean >.> :<

And she replied

Yes of course his name is Nick Leach
x 

That x at the end makes her seem super nice <.<........ V.V felt kinda bad.........

SO it continues with Mr Leach o.o and I said this

Hello,
Following up on the response from Denise about using Eldon cafe I would like to ask you directly as to why we are unable to use the cafe space, once a month, on a Wednesday evening, between the hours of 5-7/8 for the Tea party society.
Additionally, I would also like to ask permission for bringing in food and drink that will be neither provided by nor made on site. It will be shop bought or made by students who have taken the health and safety cooking test at the union.

Many thanks
Rosie 

To which he said

Hi Rosie
Although your idea sounds very interesting it is not some thing I wish to agree to happening in catering coffee shops. We have a duty of care to both Students and Staff to provided a save and legal operated catering service. To operate any event in a catering area which may be perceived as being catering and were we have no control over the food and drink that is being offered is against all our policy's and procedures.
On your point of a Union safety cooking test, this is unknown to me.
Nick  

o.o Is such a valid reason :< But the space is so awesomes o.o So talking to Tom and Isaac o.o we came up with dund udn duuuuuuuuuuuun

Hello again~
Although I understand that you and your staff have a duty of care to both students and staff, I do believe there can be a mutually satisfying solution.
The Union health and safety cooking test is mandatory, if you want to bring food into the university such as, for a cake sale etc. Either the cook has to have taken this test or be supervised by someone that has.... As of Monday I will ask Jemma and hopefully be able to reply with some more detailed information.  If the Union safety cooking test is not to a high enough standard, is there a course that I and committee members can attend to ensure that the expected standards are met? Or are there any particular certificates that we could obtain to satisfy the duty of care required?
If these options aren't available, would having an overseer at the start of each meeting, to look at the food and drink provided and make sure its all up to standard, be a possibility?
On another note could I please have a copy of your Policies forwarded to me or directions for how to find them? As I can currently only find the sustainable food policies online.
I would also like to know, what are the perimeters of the catering area in Eldon?
Ideally the tea party society would like to use the table and chair area once a month in Eldon because of the piano, easy access, and the outside right on the doorstep, and also the capacity to hold so many people. Additionally I would like to make it clear that the catering area itself is not necessary to the running of this society.  

Thank you for your time
Rosie :)   

Yup o.o I added the smiley face to try and make it a little nicer >.>.... Feel like I'm just badgering them <.<.... ALSO just to point out that I CAN write without emotes .o.o.... If I really want to... But look how serious it is o.o......

SO o.o hopefully its all going to work out okay >.>...... We shall see o.o or we shall find another place :<

Final update....I sent another email explaining what I knew about the test

Good afternoon~


After talking to Jemma I have found out that it is called "Food Hygeine: the basics"


The link below will take you to the providers of the tests FAQ section, where it does say "you can be sure your staff are adequately trained in the very latest in safe food and drink preparation."
http://learnhq.com/index.php?_a=document&doc_id=7 
The test itself starts by going through a presentation and then there will be questions at the end. The test covers 6 chapters1) Know your enemy2) A clean kitchen needs you3) You need a clean kitchen4) Storage5) Chilling, freezing and cooking6) To protect and serve 
I hope this helps explain things and look forward to your reply Rosie ^.^

To which he replied..... Pretty quickly to

 Dear Rosie 

I have already explained my reasons and that is my final word. Your enclosed information does not hold any legal standings as its not endorsed by the Institute of Public Heath and Hygiene. It would not stand up in a court of law as food hygiene training should the University be sued by someone who feel ill following the consumption of food provided on site.
I have already explained my reasons and that is my final word. Your enclosed information does not hold any legal standings as its not endorsed by the Institute of Public Heath and Hygiene. It would not stand up in a court of law as food hygiene training should the University be sued by someone who feel ill following the consumption of food provided on site.

..... So that's where it's stood for the past few days.....

-1/07/14 Update-

We can use eldon cafe!!!! :D Lewis chatted to him on the phone, we started emailing again, met in person, and arranged everything :D
He's actually a genuinely nice guy o.o He explained that as soon as we started selling it instead of giving it away, it becomes a sort of contract, like if you were to buy something from the shops, you would have certain expectations. And because we ourselves weren't sueable it would go to the university. 
No cream, no nuts, no alcohol . Clean up when we are done. Pat test the urn. 
Also he's the one that set up the slow food society o3o how cool is that? Yes non existent people, it is very.