The second tranche of the Cooks education programme has gone from strength to strength with a record number of secondary school pupils attending the most recent event.
Although only in its third year the Showcase Event, which brings together Year Eleven students from London schools and potential employers has slotted in seamlessly with the long-running Adopt-a-School programme aimed at primary school children and the sponsorship of young adults at catering colleges, principally Westminster Kingsway.
In January, 90 pupils from schools mainly in West London gathered at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Bayswater. They took part in a range of core hospitality displays including cocktail making (or rather more age-appropriate mocktails), cake decoration, and bedroom checks as well as a ‘speed dating’ session at which they quizzed industry professionals, and a sustainability display.
“It’s a question of showing students that if you do something you love you will go far,” said Thomas, the hotel’s head bar tender who led the mocktail-making.
The cost of the day is shared by the venue, the Innholders and the Cooks. The event is run by Springboard, the organisation for disadvantaged young people, whose chief executive Anne Pierce is a freeman of the Cooks, but the Cooks source the venue and invite the potential employers.
Graham Craddock, the chairman of the Assistance of Cookery Committee, said: “What are we trying to achieve is to raise the status of cookery in particular and hospitality in general as a career by choosing an iconic high-end venue and running a full day careers activity day.
He said students also benefit by “hearing notables in the industry talk about their careers often from modest beginnings to achieve top positions”. We heard from Sally Beck, hotelier of the year this year, who has worked hard to climb the ladder from a childhood in Scunthorpe to achieve the position of general manager at one of the most prestigious hotels in London.
The results of the activities were extraordinary showing a degree of involvement that grew during the day allowing plenty of spirited enthusiasm. The students also had the opportunity to meet and question a hospitality professional at a ‘speed dating style’ one to one session. Finally a very well supported careers fair with stands from some of the largest companies in the country as well as Westminster Kingsway College.
“Our thanks go to [Cooks freeman] Philippe Rossiter who was mastermind and chief ‘honcho’ of the event.” City luminaries attending included Vicky Russell, who chairs the City of London Livery Committee, and Elizabeth Mainelli the wife of the Sheriff.
Ms Mainelli said: “With my background in hotel management, albeit rather a long time ago, I was most interested to see that a career path in hospitality is now proactively promoted to young people in London. I feel sure that the fact that two City institutions are seen to be supporting this initiative will help many pursue worthwhile hospitality careers.”
The Master, David Smith, who until recently also worked for the City of London Corporation, said: “It definitely was a success, and justified all the preparations and inevitable frustrations, from the reaction of the teachers and the vast majority of the students – the noise level from their chatter and the smiles on their faces said more than words. Several teachers commented very positively about the value of getting their students out of the classroom and talking to ‘real’ people in the industry, who can give first hand accounts of what the jobs are really like, rather than what they see on TV.”
