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Catering for the community
A pioneering project is giving young people
in Leigh essential life skills, enhancing their career opportunities and
improving community harmony.
The catering course, run every Monday from the TOC H Community
Centre on Mather Lane, is teaching young people to cook a host of tasty
dishes like spaghetti bolognaise, chilli con carne and shepherd’s pie.
The project is targeting young people either living in hostels or on
their own, and teenagers
who need assistance gaining work experience in catering.
The twelve week course will see twelve young people, including three
young mums, gain Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA)
accreditation, First Aid and Health & Safety certificates, a greater
degree of independence and an extended network of friends.
Troy Mitchell, 16, from Hindley Green, said: “It has been great for
meeting people. I work Tuesday to Friday in a butty van and I’m applying
to do a catering course at Wigan and Leigh College later in the year.
The qualifications and experience I’m picking up here will hopefully
help me get a place. This is a really good course and I’m glad it’s on.”
Becky Seddon, 19, from Leigh, said: “The main reason I decided to come
along was to get my First Aid certificate but the course has got me more
into cooking, exploring different herbs, spices and techniques. It has
inspired me to cook more. I even made some chocolate cornflake cakes
last night!”
Wigan Council for Voluntary Youth Services (WCVYS), Greater Manchester
Police (GMP), the Connexions service and the Wigan Council Children and
Young People’s Services (CYPS) youth service are running the project in
partnership.
Chris King, a Police Community Safety Officer (PCSO) in Leigh, is taking
the cookery lessons with youth workers, allowing the young people to
meet a member of the police in an informal and fun environment.
Chris King says: “We want the young people to see me as Chris, rather
than as a PCSO. I feel more effort needs to be made at the intervention
stage to prevent problems before they start. This is not just about
cookery. It’s giving me a greater understanding about where these young
people are coming from, and it’s helping them understand better where I
am coming from.
“We want to show that the police are there to help people as well as
enforce. We do work with primary school kids but not much with
teenagers. If this does well I would like to see GMP getting involved in
more projects like this.
“I am no catering expert but I’m getting by on this project from what
I’ve learnt to cook as a dad and through raw enthusiasm.”
Anne McGladdery, CYPS Advanced Practitioner for youth work in Leigh,
said: “We are engaging with young people we weren’t reaching before,
giving them the chance to develop their catering skills and advising
them how to eat healthily on a budget. It’s been an invaluable project,
increasing young people’s confidence, building upon their existing
skills and hopefully aiding them into a work or educational environment.
“The young people are really enjoying it, as they are getting a lot of
attention and encouragement. It’s a very relaxed environment and we’re
all having a lot of fun. This is the first time we have run the course
so it’s a learning experience for all of us. We want to run it again in
the future if we can find more funding.”
-ends-
Notes to Editors
Further information
• For further information please contact Kennedy Stewart, Press Officer
at the Wigan Youth Information Team, on (01942) 486927
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Participants on the catering course.
Pictured (from left to right) are Kimberley Asham, Tanya Culleton, Becky
Seddon, Troy Mitchell, Martina Macdonald, Chris King (GMP PCSO) and
Christian Hilton
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