Jamie Oliver raises money for Fifteen Foundation

Jamie Oliver, the chef who campaigns to improve school meals, raised 225,000 pounds  at a dinner in London last night for his charity that helps train unemployed young people to become chefs and work in the restaurant business.

Oliver, 32, hosted the annual event for Fifteen Foundation, his charity, with a restaurant close to London's City financial district and venues in Melbourne, Amsterdam and western England.

The singer Ronan Keating, who came to fame with the band Boyzone, performed four of his songs, including the hit, ``When You Say Nothing at All,'' which found favor in the movie ``Notting Hill.'' Oliver's wife Jools led two of her friends to the front of the room and started dancing, as diners rose to their feet.

``Jamie's a good friend of mine and I'm delighted to be here,'' Keating, 30, said. ``With him, it's not about fame, it's not about celebrity, it's about helping people.'' 

Apprentices from the Fifteen Foundation prepared a menu that included salad of duck leg, line-caught sea bass and steamed Sussex pudding with vanilla custard after a champagne reception.