Work with young people is at the forefront of Springboard’s charity objectives, and it sees young people as the future of the industry, the lifeblood in sustaining the celebrated UK hospitality, leisure and tourism sector. The Young People Award recognises the most successful initiative specifically designed to attract young people into the industry, particularly from education and into work.

The Geoffrey Harrison Foundation currently supports two courses designed to give year 10 and 11 students an introduction to the hospitality industry: the Saturday morning Junior Chefs Academy held at University of West London (UWL), Ealing, and the Young Chef Academy at Westminster Kingsway College (WKC), Victoria. Over 70 per cent of the students participating in the courses go on to pursue a full-time course for a career in the hospitality industry.

Gareth Harrison, Joint Managing Director of Harrison Catering Services and Foundation trustee, said: ‘We’re pleased that the excellent work that The Geoffrey Harrison Foundation is doing to introduce young people to the hospitality industry has been recognised with this award. My fellow directors and I have seen in action the impact the chefs’ academies that the Foundation supports have on the students, and we remain committed to helping young people with an interest in catering to develop their skills and start down a successful career path’.

Geoffrey was bowled over at the skill level shown in the food presentation and taste, as well as the service that was delivered by the students.

Many of these young people have never had the opportunity to learn about food, as many schools do not include it in the curriculum. By sponsoring the Academy, The Geoffrey Harrison Foundation has created an inclusive programme which exposes young people to the world of food and hospitality, offering them an enhanced educational experience and lifestyle, improving their life chances, building their knowledge of food and giving them confidence in practical kitchens, while allowing them to participate in a team activity.

Teachers and parents have commented on the successful outcomes which have an overall effect on the students’ social and personal development.

Professor David Foskett, Head of School, said: “The Foundation’s commitment in pioneering the Junior Chefs Academy has resulted in a positive development with a caring approach to helping young people to improve and develop their learning”.

So far, nine groups of 12 young chefs have completed the 10 week programme, building their culinary skills week by week and running the end of course graduation lunch event too.

The graduation event is a chance for the aspiring chefs to show their parents what they have been learning. At graduation events held so far, guests have enjoyed a tapas-themed and a modern British-themed lunch. Parents have also been asking if there might be a follow up course offered too!

This year we are expecting almost 100 young chefs to take part in the programme, all having the opportunity to progress onto our full-time training or apprenticeship programmes when they leave school. Chef lecturer Jonathan Warner said: “This is an excellent opportunity to develop culinary skills and knowledge as well as developing teamwork and other life skills too”.

Front of House tutor Zoe Adjey added: “We involve our BTEC national Hospitality Management students in some of the graduation events as it is an opportunity for the young chefs to talk first hand to current students and find out what college life is like”.

Geoff Booth, Vice Principal at Westminster Kingsway College, said: “This has been a resounding success. We look forward to many more to come”.