West Norfolk dinner lady celebrates 50 years of service at lunch with pupils
PUBLISHED: 10:04 15 November 2018 | UPDATED: 10:32 15 November 2018

Ellie Grimsey, assistant cook at All Saints' Academy in Stoke Ferry, run by the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust, has celebrated 50 years of service in catering at the school. Picture: Simon Cobby
Simon Cobby
A dinner lady who has been dishing up meals for children in west Norfolk for 50 years had a special lunch held in her honour.
Ellie Grimsey, assistant cook at All Saints’ Academy in Stoke Ferry, is estimated to have served nearly half a million school dinners in her five decades at the school.
She joined in 1968 as a midday supervisor and became a dining room assistant in 1970. When the school moved to new premises in 1987 she became a catering assistant, followed by a 14-year stint as cook.
To celebrate her achievement Ms Grimsey joined children for a special lunch at the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust school – where her daughter Jane is now the school cook.
Amanda Massen, account manager at Norse Catering, where Ellie is employed, said: “We are enormously grateful to Ellie for the huge commitment and dedication she has shown to keeping children healthy by serving nutritious and balanced meals for half a century.”
Ms Grimsey’s work anniversary comes as the country celebrates National School Meals Week, designed to promote school dinners.