Jamie Oliver presents graduation awards to new Cornish chefs
Jamie with the new group of apprentices
Jamie Oliver was the surprise attendee at the graduation ceremony of 13 apprentice chefs from Fifteen Cornwall – the restaurant and social enterprise inspired by the TV chef that gives disadvantaged young people a second chance to learn skills and find employment as chefs.
To the delight of the apprentices and guests, Jamie Oliver made his surprise entrance to present the graduation awards to the apprentices – all of whom have secured jobs in restaurants in Cornwall and beyond. The event, supported by Cornwall Works, took place at Truro Cathedral on 26 April.
This is the sixth cohort of fully qualified chefs to graduate through the Fifteen Cornwall training programme, which is part-funded through European Social Fund Convergence investment. So far, the lives of 120 young people in Cornwall have been transformed by the programme; £12 million has been generated for the Cornish economy and nearly 400,000 diners have been served at the restaurant at Watergate Bay.
Fifteen Cornwall targets young people between the ages of 18-24 from a variety of disadvantaged backgrounds. As apprentices they receive full training and work experience at the Fifteen kitchen, along with formal learning at Cornwall College. Apprentices also make visits to food and wine producers, work five shifts a week for 12 months at Fifteen alongside the restaurant's brigade of 20 professional full-time chefs and gain work experience in other high quality restaurants.
The restaurant, which sources most of its produce locally, deals with 80,000 diners a year. It was set up using both European Regional Development Fund and ESF investment from the European Objective One 2000-2006 programme and has continued to receive support, via Jobcentre Plus and the Skills Funding Agency, through ESF Convergence.
Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said, “Here in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly we have a unique opportunity to use public monies in a creative and impactful way. ESF Convergence has been used innovatively via Cornwall Works to ensure flexible support reaches the people who most need it, and in a way which is of the greatest benefit for their future. Fifteen Cornwall is a great example to us all if the positive difference the creative use of ESF can make to people’s lives.”
See the latest Fifteen Cornwall blog on the 2012 Fifteen Cornwall graduation.
- Further information about Fifteen Cornwall and this year’s graduate apprentices (Cornwall Works website)