Food

Parent Guide

Healthy, Tasty and Nutritious

The meals we provide at our centres offer a wide range of tasty and nutritious dishes which are attractive to children’s palates. To assist young people in selecting a balanced meal we serve generous portions of fruit, vegetables and salad with plenty of carbohydrate for energy.

There is also a mix of freshly-prepared hot or cold meals at various mealtimes throughout the week, as well and a self-service salad bar for children to help themselves to as much salad as they like at lunch and dinner. There is always plenty of bread and fresh fruit available, as well as hot and cold drinks.

Responsibility of the Party Leader/Supervising Adult in the dining room

  • Informing PGL of any guest’s food allergy / intolerance prior to arrival by completion of the SEND and Dietary form. This must be done upon confirmation of the booking, or as soon as possible after if situations change. Information must be provided in writing, rather than verbally, to prevent any misunderstanding.
  • Prior to arrival at the centre, reading the allergy information provided by PGL on our website and in communications from our Customer Service teams. Any questions should be raised with their PGL contact (who may direct them to the Centre Catering Manager).
  • Accompanying children with medical dietary needs at the servery every mealtime. Supervising adults/Party Leaders are responsible for checking that food chosen by children meets their dietary requirements; especially, although not limited to, those with severe allergies. Children with allergies/medical dietary needs will only be served in the presence of a Party Leader/supervising adult from their party.
  • School groups are welcome to bring along their own system for identifying children with allergies (e.g. the system they use in their school canteen) - for the Party Leader/supervising adult within the party to manage allergies in a way in that is already familiar. This is, however, on the understanding that PGL colleagues will not be familiar with the system, and that we cannot make any changes to the PGL catering operation, given that we accommodate multiple groups at any one time.
  • Determining the required portion weight of foods for guests with diabetes and those counting their carbs. The responsibility for observing what a child eats and their activity levels lies with the Party Leader/Supervising Adult, as a child may eat less than provided, or supplement it with food from self-serve counters.

Allergies, Intolerances and Special Diets

At PGL centres, we are able to deliver catering provision for many dietary requirements as specified by culture, religion and medical concerns. We regularly provide meals for a wide variety of needs including coeliac, diabetic, food allergies and vegetarian/vegan. While we will do our best to cater for special diets, it may not always be possible to meet all complex requirements such as organic-only diets or weight management programmes.

For guests who need to measure and control their carbohydrate intake, the carbohydrate content of core dishes is available from the sample menu (link above), by portion and per 100g. The Catering Management Team will facilitate the weighing of required portion sizes. Scales are made visible to the Party Leader/Supervising Adult who must take ownership for the required portion weight. All Centres have scales that are flat based, digital and can be zeroed, with accuracy to within 5g as a minimum, following Diabetes UK guidelines. Carb content information is also available on request from Centre, for the self-serve foods such as cereals and salad bar.

Schools and groups should make us aware of food allergies and intolerances via the SEND and Dietary Needs form (a link to this is included in our documentation or can be requested from your PGL contact). You will be given the opportunity to tell us separately about any dietary preferences (vegetarian/vegan/halal). All details must be submitted at least two weeks before travel to allow our Catering teams to make any necessary adaptations. We may not be able to make arrangements at short notice.

For the safety of others, please do not bring any food items that contain nuts to our centres.

Please note that wifi is only available in the communal areas of many of our centres and due to their locations, connection speed and availability may be challenging. We cannot therefore guarantee that it will be sufficient for the operation of devices used to manage diabetes. We are investing in our wifi as a priority during 2024, so that we can provide faster connections, plus greater reliability and coverage at all of our centres in the near future. Please contact us for specific information relating to your chosen centre.

Fussy Eaters

We know that some children are very particular about what they eat and if the menu doesn't suit, we can provide alternatives to ensure no-one leaves the dining room hungry. We do often find, however, that children are more likely to try new things at PGL that they wouldn't normally eat at home - it's all part of the PGL experience!

And finally...

It is a matter of pride and principle that no child leaves a PGL dining room hungry! They are always welcome to revisit the self-serve stations and help themselves to more.

We always welcome your comments and would be delighted to discuss any aspect of our catering with you. If you have any comments, please let us know as soon as you can, whilst you are on centre, so we can adapt to your requirements.