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MasterChef came to Meavy in the shape of Tom Elson-Knight and Stephen Ford, both contestants in the recent Masterchef competition on the BBC. Stephen Earp, landlord of the Royal Oak at Meavy knew Ellie personally and here he tells us the story that galvanised him to arrange a special charity dinner at the pub in her honour.
“I was devastated last year when I heard the news that my friend’s daughter had taken her own life.Her name was Ellie Soutter and she would have been 18 on that day.I met Ellie and her father Tony a few years before when I had taken my own daughters on a skiing holiday to Les Gets in the French Alps.Ellie had offered to take Rebecca and Imogen up the mountain and teach them to snowboard.The friendship started then and we spent many a happy time eating and drinking together whenever we would visit Les Gets. Ellie was a talented and dedicated snowboarder.Her efforts finally paid off when she was offered a place on the GB snowboarding team.I stayed with Ellie and Tony at their home in June last year, from the outside it looks like Ellie was living the perfect life, living in a fantastic location, competing at the top level of her chosen sport. Sport she had been involved in for most of her life. But the pressures must have been immense and unfortunately and tragically she took her own life on the 25th of July 2018. Tony set up the Ellie Soutter foundationto support promising winter sports athletes both financially and personally. I decided to put on a dinner at the Royal Oak, Meavy to raise funds for the foundation. I was lucky enough to meet Tom Elson - Knight and Stephen Ford in the pub one night. They were both contestants on this year’s BBC Masterchef. They didn’t take much convincing to give up their time and be involved in this worthy cause.
The dinner sold out in a matter of hours and they cooked some amazing food on the night and guests managed to raise £2,060 on the night and I would like to thank everyone involved”.
The evening was supported by Trevethan gin and St Austell wines. All the money raised from the evening will be going to the foundation.If you’d like to support the Ellie Soutter foundation please go to...https://www.gofundme.com/riding2win and simply make a donation!