School cooks up a storm in memory of brave Tyler

Food fans at a Leigh school have been cooking up a storm to pay a fitting tribute to a brave former student.
Tyler YatesTyler Yates
Tyler Yates

Masterchefs-in-the-making from Bedford High donned their aprons and rolled up their sleeves to devise their own mouthwatering meal ideas for a special charity calendar.

Food technology teacher, Theresa Everitt and students Myles Denton, Ellie Parr, Kara Mitchell, Macie Antrobus and Cameron Mullowney-Reynolds have been running a competition to find 12 of the best original recipe ideas. The challenge is to raise money in memory of Year 9 student Tyler Ryan Yates, who lost his brave battle against brain cancer last year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mrs Everitt said: “Tyler was a great foodie and was often photographed eating his favourite dish, spaghetti carbonara. We all wanted to do something to pay tribute to Tyler, which is how the calendar came about. We asked students to be as creative as possible with their ideas and we were overwhelmed with the response.”

From left: student Myles Denton, Mr Tait, Ms Phillips and students Ellie Parr and Kara Mitchell get ready to cookFrom left: student Myles Denton, Mr Tait, Ms Phillips and students Ellie Parr and Kara Mitchell get ready to cook
From left: student Myles Denton, Mr Tait, Ms Phillips and students Ellie Parr and Kara Mitchell get ready to cook

Former Bedford student and chef at Manchester’s Hotel Indigo, Morgan Mole came back to school to judge the entries.

Once the winning recipes were chosen, it was time for the students to bring their culinary creations to life for the Tyler Ryan Yates (TRY) Calendar.

And here’s just a taste of what’s on offer; student Elliott Simpson starts the whole thing off with January’s special healthy chicken fried rice, while in April student Chloe Dunn showers us with lemon drizzle cake.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Other recipes include spicy bubble and squeak from student Nathan Davis and the suspiciously teacher-ish offering of “do your homework’” one-tray roast!

All the money raised will be donated to two of Tyler’s favourite charities: Superjosh and Max In A Million, which both support children with tumours and their families.

The school’s new partner, Morrison Manufacturing, based in Worsley, provided the ingredients for the recipes while experts from the school’s media partner Northstar Digital professionally captured the images and designed the calendar.

Morrisons’ community champion Steven Tait said: “This is a fantastic and incredibly worthwhile initiative that Morrisons is proud to be a part of. The amount of hard work and dedication that the students have put into this project is really impressive. We hope the calendar is a big hit with the public and helps to support Tyler’s chosen charities.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The calendars are available from the school and from Cannings Newsagents in Leigh, priced £5.

Bedford headteacher Helen Phillips said: “Tyler was an inspirational young man who will be remembered for years to come by everyone at Bedford. His legacy is the spirit of his determination and a willingness to selflessly help others. It is a tribute to Tyler that so many of our students want to get involved in fundraising activities such as this one. As a school, we will continue to support Tyler’s charities in the future.”

“We would urge everyone to support the project by getting a copy of the calendar. It would make an ideal Christmas present and provide you with a year full of great recipe ideas at the same time.”