Catering students at West Suffolk College served up a winner at a prestigious charity event.

Ipswich Star: The students from West Suffolk College Culinary Arts Academy in St Edmundsbury Cathedral for the charity event Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGEThe students from West Suffolk College Culinary Arts Academy in St Edmundsbury Cathedral for the charity event Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGE (Image: Tunbridge Photography)

The college's Culinary Arts Academy prepared and cooked the food served to guests including HRH the Duchess of Gloucester at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds.

The event, 'A Night Before Christmas', was hosted by the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, Lady Clare Euston, and attended by nearly 350 guests.

The Lord Lieutenant praised the students. She said: "The college achieved the impossible - a Royal Gala Dinner for almost three hundred guests in the splendour of St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

"Spectacular cooking and immaculate service were the hallmarks of a wonderful evening. I am so proud of the students they were simply amazing."

Ipswich Star: Students apply the finishing touches before dinner is served at the prestigious black tie event Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGEStudents apply the finishing touches before dinner is served at the prestigious black tie event Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGE (Image: Tunbridge Photography)

The event, on December 5, was a fundraising evening for St Nicholas Hospice, St Elizabeth Hospice and East Anglia's Children's Hospices, and the Cathedral's Foundation of St Edmund.

Singer Mica Paris and the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir performed, along with Mid Suffolk Brass and the Chris Ingham Jazz Quartet.

The millennium of the foundation of the Abbey of St Edmund will be celebrated throughout 2020.

The students worked in partnership with local chefs Lee Bye, chef patron at Tuddenham Mill, and Pascal Canevet, head chef and owner of Maison Bleue, to prepare and cook the food and to serve the guests on the night.

Ipswich Star: The sudents worked under the guidance of top local chefs to prepare the meals Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGEThe sudents worked under the guidance of top local chefs to prepare the meals Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGE (Image: Tunbridge Photography)

Claire Waterson, events coordinator at the college said: "This really was a spectacular evening and it was a huge honour for us and, more importantly, our students, to be a part of it.

"We are immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in such a prestigious and memorable event.

"We put our students at the heart of everything we do and it has been wonderful to see them receive the exceptional feedback and words of encouragement from many of the guests; this truly enriches their journey.

"For the students to have been involved in such an ambitious event will really boost their confidence and we are so proud of them all."

Ipswich Star: St Edmundsbury Cathedral laid out for the event where the sudents worked Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGESt Edmundsbury Cathedral laid out for the event where the sudents worked Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGE (Image: Tunbridge Photography)

Ipswich Star: Culinary Arts Academy students hard at work in the kitchen Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGECulinary Arts Academy students hard at work in the kitchen Picture: BRIAN TUNBRIDGE (Image: Tunbridge Photography)