A Lanarkshire charity founder will be looking to prove he’s a burger king when he takes on an “Out of this World” challenge.
Les Hoey, from Wishaw, faces the mammoth task of polishing off a mountain of food on a bun, but it’s all for a good cause.
The gauntlet was thrown down for the high-noon showdown by Shelly Ford, a staff member at Hank Marvin, a newly-opened eat-in diner at 17 Main Street, Uddingston, and the man who set-up of the Les Hoey MBE DreamMaker Foundation has risen to it.
Shelly explained: “Les is taking on our Out of this World burger challenge, after that he will either go on to our wall of fame, or the wall of shame. We’ve offered to provide a meal to a family that’s being supported by the DreamMaker charity every week if Les can do it.
“It’s a very large meal with two 8ins burgers, two chicken burgers, home-made onion rings, pulled pork, chorizo, pepperoni, macaroni cheese, salad, haggis, black pudding, and pepper sauce, and home made wedges.
“Les has done this type of thing before, I ran a place 12 years ago and he was the only person out of 360 people who tried that done it.
"But, he’s been on a diet for the last 18 months so I’m thinking his stomach might have shrunk a wee bit, so we might just get him on this one this time. If he does it then we will feed a DreamMaker family every week for free.”
The family business opened a Hank Marvin diner in Larkhall a few months ago and having recently taken over the Uddingston branch, they decided to set Les the food challenge as part of its grand opening day, this coming Monday – April 3.
“It’s like an American-style, and we have hot dogs, wraps and burgers, and desserts as well,” said Shelly. “We have a sit-in area so we’re looking to open that for breakfasts as well as lunch times and evenings."
The DreamMaker charity helps children with life-threatening illnesses and makes it possible for them and their siblings and families to meet their idols or take part in things they thought they could only dream of, and would not otherwise get to do.
Les has shown before that he is up to belly-bursting challenges and is quietly confident he can beat the odds yet again.
He said: “I’ve done four already all over Lanarkshire, and I’m unbeaten. But I’ve not done one for about three or four years. I'm coming out of retirement for one last man versus food challenge. I have to eat this fancy burger and I’ll give it my best shot.
“I’ve not had much notice for this one to get in training for it.
“But it’s great that Shelly’s going to give a DreamMaker family a meal every week if I do it.”
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