It’s always nice to report on something slightly different than the direct food related news and reviews. Henry Wong a lovely Cantonese restaurant in Harborne in Birmingham which is fabulous for Vegetarians, has always been involved in local charity work.
They are still involved with The Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer charity which raises money directly for the cancer unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, but have now added Fisher House also at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
The QE’s Fisher House is Touted as a ‘Home away from Home’, Fisher House is intended for injured military personnel – many of whom have suffered life changing injuries in service – and their immediate families and is based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is the receiving hospital for all the UK’s military patients who are injured or fall ill anywhere around the world during active service. These military patients are treated by both NHS and military medical staff. Over 400 serving military personnel form the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine are based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.
Fisher House opened its doors in April 2013, and has already provided medical assistance and respite for almost 1,700 people, including patients, parents, partners and children. This adds up to more than 9,500 nights of accommodation provided for people ranging in age from one month to 94 years!
Help from businesses like Henry Wong of Harborne is integral to the running of Fisher House, as it solely relies on funds from charitable donations. Mike Hammond, the Chief Executive of QEHB Charity, which runs Fisher House explains “We are extremely grateful to everyone at Henry Wong of Harborne for choosing to support Fisher House. It costs the charity £250,000 a year to run the facility and we rely entirely on the generous support of individuals and companies, like Henry Wong, to raise this. More fundraising means we can offer more free accommodation and support to more military patients and their families. We very much look forward to working with Henry Wong of Harborne in 2016”.
It was a perfect fit for Henry Wong of Harborne owner, Parm Rai, who has a long history in supporting Birmingham-based charities. Commenting; “First and foremost I wanted to support a charity local to the restaurant in Harborne. Mike Hammond from Fisher House regularly visits Henry Wong and has, on occasion, brought along some of his patients to dine with us, as part of their reintegration to society. I, like many, feel indebted to these military personnel who have literally laid their lives on the line for our us, so I could think of no worthier charity to support in 2016”.
Henry Wong of Harborne will be organizing a calendar of exciting events both on and off-site that will raise awareness and funds for Fisher House.
Henry Wong Harborne was opened just over 30 years ago and saw a relaunch by businessman Parm Rai in 2008. They introduced a new cocktail bar, outdoor terrace dining area and a private dining room to host events.
Henry Wong restaurant is also celebrating the Chinese New Year with this year is the year of the Monkey.
2016 (on the Chinese calendar) is a year of the Monkey, starting from February 8 (Chinese New Year), and ending on January 27, 2017 (Chinese New Year’s Eve).
The Monkey is ninth of the 12 animals in the recurring 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle. Every 12 years there is a Monkey year. (Interestingly, Monkey years are all multiples of 12 — from 12 AD, through 1200 AD, to now in 2016.)
For details of Henry Wong you can find them at:
http://henrywongharborne.co.uk/
For more information on Fisher House:
http://www.fisherhouseuk.org/about/
For more information onLadies Fighting Breast Cancer:
Thanks for reading,
Andy 😊
Thanks also to Henry Wong and FU Media for the information on Fisher House.
All photos apart from the food pics courtesy of Henry Wong.
For previous vegetarian food reviews of Henry Wong see the links below:
veggiefoodie 