In the spirit of inspiring people to get outside and to raise money for earthquake-damaged schools in Nepal, a group from Christchurch has put together a cookbook of outdoor meals.

Outdoor Appetite was dreamed up by Sue Harrison, who did a successful cookbook-fundraiser for a school a few years ago. With the help of a committee of six, she collected recipes from a diverse group of chefs and mountaineers, put together the book, and gifted it to the Himalayan Trust so it could be used to raise funds for schools damaged in the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

“We have all experienced earthquakes, the impact it had on our families and living through the realities of rebuilding,” Harrison said. “We wanted to do something to help Nepal after the earthquakes.”

Recipe contributions came from family members of Sir Edmund Hillary, best-selling cookbook author Alexa Johnston, actress Joanna Lumley, Guy Cotter from Adventure Consultants, and many others.

The trust is using the proceeds of book sales to rebuild earthquake-damaged schools. They’ll be repairing around 180 classrooms at 33 schools, retrofitting and seismic-strengthening as they rebuild. The trust reports that the first phase of the programme is almost complete, with about half of the rebuild projects now finished. This year, they’ll focus on rebuilding in remote areas, where building materials need to be carried in by porters.

The book has sold 1000 copies and raised $35,000 since its late-2016 release.