Cookbook for a cause
This highly anticipated release of the Entertaining at Home cookbook, from Sue Heazlewood of Tangleby Gardens, marks the final chapter of Bayleys Canterbury’s Plate Up for a Purpose campaign.
Bayleys Canterbury’s Plate Up for a Purpose campaign has been an initiative that has united chefs, hospitality venues, business leaders, and diners behind a shared goal of supporting the Christchurch City Mission’s Back to School Programme. This programme ensures rangatahi can walk into the classroom with confidence, dignity, and a sense of belonging. “Starting the school year with the right shoes, uniform, and stationery can have a huge impact on a child’s confidence,” says Christchurch City Missioner and CEO, Corinne Haines.
The idea began, over six years ago, with a simple conversation. Bayleys Canterbury Principal Licensee, Pete Whalan, was moved by hearing how something as basic as not having the right shoes or the same stationery as other students could leave children feeling excluded before the school day had even begun.
Since then, Plate Up for a Purpose has evolved in remarkable ways. What started as fundraising gala dinners, where Canterbury business leaders swapped boardrooms for restaurant kitchens alongside professional chefs, grew into a region-wide hospitality campaign. Cafés, pubs, and restaurants across Canterbury created special dishes throughout the designated “Plate Up” month, with every feature dish ordered contributing directly to the Christchurch City Mission’s Back to School Programme. It was a brilliantly simple idea that allowed so many to support the cause by doing something they already loved: sharing a meal.
The results speak for themselves. By the end of 2025, the campaign had raised more than $776,000, supporting over 1,300 local families with school uniforms, shoes, and stationery while serving tens of thousands of fundraising meals across Canterbury. It’s proof that when a community rallies around a common purpose, small acts of generosity can create lasting change.
Now, that legacy lives on in the pages of Entertaining at Home. Beautifully curated by Sue Heazlewood of Tangleby Gardens, the cookbook brings together restaurant-inspired recipes from the chefs, venues, and community champions who helped shape the campaign over its six-year journey. Rather than simply reproducing restaurant dishes, each recipe has been thoughtfully adapted for the home kitchen, allowing cooks of every skill level to recreate Plate Up dishes for their own dining tables. Inside, readers will discover an enticing collection of entrées, mains, sides, and desserts inspired by some of Canterbury’s favourite hospitality venues. This is a cookbook designed to be returned to often, whether you’re searching for a show-stopping dinner party centrepiece, a comforting weekend meal or simply inspiration for what to cook next.
Yet perhaps its greatest ingredient is purpose. Every copy purchased continues the work that began all those years ago, with all proceeds supporting the Christchurch City Mission’s Back to School Programme. That means every recipe cooked, every meal shared, and every page turned contributes to giving another child the confidence to walk through the school gates ready to learn.
Entertaining at Home is available to purchase for $55 at entertainingathome.co.nz. Whether you’re a passionate home cook, a devoted foodie or simply someone who believes in backing a worthwhile cause, this book deserves a place on your kitchen bookshelf.