20 Local Adults access Career Support through the Summer HAF Trainee Programme
Earlier this year, Job Centre Plus, London’s Community Kitchen and the Xcite team at Harrow Council joined forces to identify 20 eligible local adults facing unemployment. London’s Community Kitchen then provided a 6-week hands-on training programme for them which covered all of the basic training needed to work in a kitchen environment.
Trainees were awarded with a Level 1 Certification in hospitality which can open the door for them to work in other hospitality settings and gained valuable transferable experience. As part of the training they also visited the Felix Project, a surplus food distributor and community kitchen, to get further experience working alongside trained chefs in a large-scale kitchen.
Those same trainees were then given a paid work placement over the summer holidays, providing the 20,000 meals needed to feed the children across Harrow involved in the HAF 2022 programme. All nutritious meals going out for free to local children and young people eligible for free school meals or facing other barriers.
The trainees have really benefited from being a part of this programme. Both Ishan and Toby are in their late teens and enrolled on the programme. Ishan’s aim is to run his own successful dessert company while Toby has discovered a newfound love of working in a kitchen.
“I didn’t know this industry could be so fun [...] I was torn between options and this is helping me pick a clearer path. It’s good to gain experience and we’re feeding children so it’s a win-win.” - Toby, Trainee
“I understand not enjoying the holidays as much as other kids do because my family didn’t really come from the best place [...] My parents worked so hard to get me to where I am today and with this programme I can do the same.” - Ishan, Trainee
At Young Harrow Foundation, we are thrilled with how this training programme has gone but we are looking to build on this further. With the fantastic partnerships between ourselves, London’s Community Kitchen, Job Centre Plus and the Xcite team at Harrow Council, we are confident that this is just the beginning of an exciting new journey unlocking more potential in the HAF funding for more employment opportunities.
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