Chefs unite to help charity cook up funds for leukaemia

Some of Britain's most famous chefs are offering once-in-a-lifetime private cooking classes and meals to raise money for children with leukaemia.

Marcus Wareing, Ken Hom, Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc, Antonio Carluccio, Antony Worrall Thompson and Giorgio Locatelli have offered lessons and meals as prizes in a raffle - with tickets costing £10.

Wareing, who will give a four-hour one-to-one lesson followed by lunch for four at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, said: "I have three children of my own and I can't imagine how it must feel if one of them falls sick [with leukaemia]. It's a very clever idea to do a raffle rather than an auction because then it's open to people who can't afford to bid thousands for a private lesson."

Hom has offered a meal for four at his Paris home with Eurostar tickets thrown in. He said: "I wanted to offer something that would knock people's socks off so more people buy tickets."

The raffle begins tomorrow. All the money collected goes to children's charity Children with Leukaemia.

* chefsunite.co.uk