Carluccio's wins most charitable restaurant group award

Since signing up to the campaign in 2007, Carluccio's has raised a massive £177,000. The award was presented to the Carluccio's marketing manager, Raquel Pirola, at Too Many Critics, a fundraising banquet in aid of Action Against Hunger, prepared by a band of the best-known critics such as Charles Campion, Jay Rayner, Matthew Fort and Tom Parker-Bowles. Simon Kossoff, managing director of Carluccio's, explained: "I always wanted the team at Carluccio's to work together on something important that was outside the activity of the company and I found the connection between the privilege of eating out as leisure and supporting a charity focused on helping the hungry a compelling one. "The award is a great thank you to our customers and our team who have made the fundraising possible." Part of the money raised is being used to help Action Against Hunger's work in Monrovia, Liveria where more than 12,500 children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition. Carluccio's continues to raise money for the campaign through the donation of 50p from every sale of their most popular dish penne giardiniera – the group's own pugliese penne with courgette, chilli and deep fried spinach balls with parmesan garlic. Weblink: www.carluccios.com