| The Catering Academy is put to the test! by Esther Smith
A significant number of those who come to CFL for support have had very negative, hurtful childhood experiences. As children, some have been so neglected that they have never known when the next meal will come along. This can lead to acute anxiety. Few have been taught any kind of skills in food preparation and most are ill equipped to look after themselves. In order to address some of these issues, the CFL Catering Academy, run by CFL’s chef, Mark Newsome, begins by teaching very basic issues regarding food hygiene, personal hygiene, health and safety in a kitchen and simple nutrition. Students have to be interviewed before they are taken onto the course and they have to attend all the training sessions before having a simple “test” to ensure that they have taken on board the important training information. Following this first month of training, students work in the CFL kitchen one day each week, receiving one-on-one support in learning to cook and helping to prepare the lunch for fifty plus people. At a recent interview, one prospective student explained why he had never applied to join the Catering Academy before. He was keen to learn but he was very worried that his friends would not like him any more if they did not like the food he prepared. As this particular young man suffers with extreme emotional insecurity, it is now understandable that this issue was a cause of huge concern for him. In addition to helping the students build up their confidence and learn basic cooking skills, one further aim is to help them to learn to just enjoy cooking and also eating, experimenting with food they would never have tried before.
The kitchen was gleaming and the students were beaming! Everything had been prepared, but stress levels were somewhat high, because that very evening, on Midsummer’s Day, our chef had to cook for 150 persons attending a royal banquet at Crag House Farm, in the presence of our Patron, HRH The Countess of Wessex. Mark was ably and very generously assisted by Chris Dickens, head chef at Brio's Restaurant Leeds, four students, James, Jamie, Rob and Paul from Harrogate College and a host of volunteers very capably supervised by Gip and John of Salvo's Restaurant, who waited on tables. The event was a roaring success and the food was declared to be absolutely delicious, with several saying it was the best charity event they had attended. Some of those students who had been part of the Catering Academy helped in various ways and banquet attendees were treated to a wonderful performance by members of the Drama and Music Workshops at CFL. With that challenge over, another test awaited; the Catering Academy’s challenges continued as they hosted delicious lunches for special guests at the Caring For Life stand at the Great Yorkshire Show in July. Gary and Kelly assisted Mark and took great pride in being involved, taking their skills to another level as they served guests and helped Mark. Towards the end of July, a new set of students began their training sessions, hoping to pass their test and enter the Academy! The work goes on and it is planned to take the Academy course to a higher level, with a follow on course for those who have attended the initial scheme. The CFL Catering Academy has been put to the test and has passed with flying colours. But they are certainly put to the test every day as they serve up lunch to a critical audience of fifty plus hungry mouths!! |
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