Hale Mother Lends Celebrity Spice to Hospital’s Fundraising

The mother of a Hale teenager who came close to death while suffering from a mystery virus has published a book of celebrities’ favourite curry recipes to raise funds for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, the hospital which saved his life.

Parveen Ahmed’s son Hashim was a fit and healthy 14-year old when overnight he developed a devastating virus which left him in a coma with severe brain trauma and his parents being advised to prepare for the worst. Against the odds, Hashim recovered consciousness and despite initially being unable to walk, talk or feed himself, he made a miraculous recovery, thanks to the dedication of the staff at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Keen to demonstrate the family’s gratitude to the medical team that saved her son’s life, cookery teacher Parveen, who founded the Taj Mahall Cookery School in 1996, has published ‘Celebrity Spice’, a book of curry recipes chosen by a host of famous faces from across the north-west and beyond.

Now 20-years old, Hashim is studying for a degree in International Business with American Business Studies at Manchester Business School. Parveen, who has a further four sons, says:

“I felt enormous gratitude to the hospital for all they had done for Hashim and began to raise money for them by holding curry lunches. At these lunches so many guests wanted the recipes that the idea of a celebrity curry cookbook was born.

“I collected the favourite curry dishes from a host of famous individuals, including Sir Trevor McDonald, Coronation Street actors Sally Dynevor and Jimmi Harkishin, footballers from Manchester City and Manchester United and boxer Amir Khan, to name but a few. Many of the celebrities came to my home for cookery lessons during this project – it was surreal to see famous footballers and soap stars in my kitchen, chopping onions!

“I’m very grateful to all of the celebrities who have supported the book and my fundraising and very much hope that the money raised by this venture will go some way to repaying the huge debt of thanks that our family owes to everyone at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.”

Angela Rowe, Community Fundraising Manager for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity says:

“This is a wonderful fundraising initiative and we are very grateful to Parveen for her extensive efforts to bring this book to market. It has been a real labour of love and we very much hope that our supporters will take the opportunity to add a fantastic recipe book to their collection whilst continuing to raise funds for our charity.”

‘Celebrity Spice’ is now available to purchase from Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celebrity-Spice-Parveen-K-Ahmed/dp/1492988278/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393501936&sr=1-1&keywords=Parveen+Ahmed priced £8.69 with all profits donated to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity.