Only SEVEN days until Firepower! Clear your diary and we’ll see you there!

The Sharpe Chefs have now opened a Zazzle store where you can buy products which will help you support our causes. All proceeds from these sales will go to the charities being supported at the time. Please go and have a look and, hopefully, buy!

Firepower this year includes a weekend dedicated to Bernard Cornwell’s ‘Sharpe’ on April 17th & 18th. Definitely confirmed, apart from an international contingent from Sharpe Chefs and, of course, The Sharpe Appreciation Society, are Daragh O’Malley – on behalf of the Sharpe’s Children’s Foundation – and Jason Salkey, our staunchest supporter from the ‘Sharpe’ family. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at a wonderful event which, as well as wallowing in ‘Sharpe’, will give you the opportunity to find out more about The Sharpe’s Children Foundation and pick up the latest goodies from Rifleman Harris. Put it in your diary!

Go to the website (link below) for all the latest news. “The Sharpe’s Children Foundation have been invited to attend The Indian Philanthrophy Forum which will be held in Mumbai this week. This is a very important event, as for the very first time 120 of the wealthiest philanthrophists in Asia will gather to find ways of making their giving more effective.The Sharpe’s Children Foundation are the only UK charity to have been invited to the event.”

The Sharpe Chefs are delighted to announce that the The Sharpe’s Children Foundation web site has been launched. It is a fount of information on the work they do and the aims they have. The number of people from the Sharpe series who are involved is impressive. Please support them in any way you can and keep track of their work either through their own site or their Facebook page. We have all taken the king’s shilling and are ready for action!

The Sharpe Chefs wish everyone a very Happy New Year. May it bring Health and Prosperity as well as everything you wish yourselves.

Just a note to remind all our followers that the two Sharpe Chefs cookery books are still available from Youbooks

There are some great seasonal offers, so go and see what you can do to lighten your present-buying load and help worthwhile charities as you do so.

All the Sharpe Chefs would like to wish our supporters the happiest of Christmases. Once again we would like to thank those who have continued to support the cookery books and the charities which benefit from their sales, especially those connected with ‘Sharpe’, who have kindly donated their time and contributions. Special thanks, as always, go to Bernard Cornwell, Daragh O’Malley, Jason Salkey, John Tams, Lyndon Davies and Paul Bigley, who have unceasingly given their support.

A chance to share in the extraordinary series ‘Sharpe’, seen through the eyes of one of our dear friends and supporters, Jason Salkey.

“The Harris Diaries”

So much planning for so long; so many e-mails and phone calls going before and was it worth it? MOST DEFINITELY!!!

Our signing in the vibrant city of Nottingham was a very special one for us. We wanted to take the event to the hometown of our dear friend and supporter Chris Clarke, whom we lost so tragically earlier this year. Chris was the founder of The Sharpe Appreciation Society and when I was introduced to her back when we started the books, she took me under her wing as she did with so many. Despite having a family, a job and running the SAS, she still found time to introduce me to all the people we needed to help make our books so special. The director of Sharpe, the producers and of course the wonderful cast, who have supported us and the charities so vehemently ever since.

Nottingham Waterstones were very gracious hosts and come the day, come the hour, The Chosen Men, Jason Salkey and Lyndon Davies, and our very own flogged man, Paul Bigley were seated ready for the affray! They began signing and very soon, we needed a barrier to ensure that people were seen in the correct order. After a very short while, a very special Chosen Man came to sign with them. The wonderful John Tams quietly came in to take his place at the table. This was very exciting indeed for us as it was the first time John had been able to join us at a signing and the Chosen Men were clearly glad to see each other.
As ever the guys signed books and photos until their fingers went numb! They posed for photographs and chatted to people, who made it very clear to them that Sharpe was still a force to be reckoned with.
We were also very happy to welcome a representative from the CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA Charity, Pippa Gough, who was happy to answer questions from members of the public.

Please allow me now, on behalf of myself and my fellow ‘Chefs’ to thank everyone for their continued support in these difficult financial times. Sadly Childhood Leukaemia recognises no financial recession. It does not stop affecting children because funds for research may be harder to come by. In these times it makes it even more important to keep this and other charities in our hearts and minds.

So a big Thank You to Sophie, the events manager at Waterstones for making us so welcome, to Pippa for her support and enthusiasm ever since I first approached her. To the members of the 3rd 95th Regiment of Re-enactors who guard us at every event, so gallantly and with such a fun spirit. To our wonderful Partisan, Laura, who not only stood guard in the shop window to draw people in, but also helped us with much of the arrangements as she is a Nottingham Lass! A thank you also to the supporters of our books, the Sharpe books and the Sharpe series. And, most especially, a massive thank you to Jason, Lyndon, Paul and John, without whom these events would not be able to take place.

It was a memorable event, our own tribute to a wonderful lady.

In Memory of Chris Clarke, Whom We All Miss Greatly.

Adele James