What is ChildFund doing on MasterChef?

When I got the call asking whether I wanted to appear on MasterChef, I must admit I wasn't quite as excited as my wife. My first thought was that I'm not much of a foodie so I wasn't sure how much I would have to contribute - but I have watched the show a few times and was curious to see how it all worked. I was contacted about a month prior to the filming by law firm Allens Arthur Robinson saying they had been approached to be the focus of a corporate lunch prepared by the MasterChef contestants. They wanted to extend the lunch invitation to their key partners - not just from the business world but from the not-for-profit organisations they support. ChildFund Australia has a terrific relationship with AAR - their chief executive partner Michael Rose is a member and former chair of our board, and AAR periodically provides extremely valuable pro bono assistance. So we were delighted to be included on the guest list. At the same time I was apprehensive about sitting down to a lavish lunch when, as an aid organisation, we invest so much time and energy raising funds for people who barely manage two meals a day. We are incredibly fortunate to have such an abundance of nutritious food in this country. But the chance to build awareness and support for our work was too good an opportunity to pass up. ChildFund spends almost no money on PR and advertising, so it's not often we get the chance to become known to such a wide audience. I don't want to give away too much before the episode is aired tonight, so all I'll say is that it was great to meet Matt Preston - he was really friendly and genuinely interested in ChildFund's work. Michael Rose was a brilliant host and did a great job bantering with Matt for the cameras. As for the food? You'll have to watch to see what happens!

See ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence on tonight's episode of MasterChef Australia @ 7.30pm on Network Ten.