Springboard’s FutureChef crowns 2020 winner!
FutureChef has a new winner! 16 year-old Jodie Cochrane from Glasgow won the 2020 National Final at Westminster Kingsway College on Monday.
Jodie, 16, who attends Trinity High School, beat eleven other contestants for the coveted title, wowing the judges with her main of steamed chicken supreme with stuffed tomatoes, vegetables and Spätzle, served with a wholegrain mustard cream sauce, and her dessert of a gluten-free dark chocolate brownie with peanut butter ice cream, caramelized bananas and butterscotch sauce.
Elated about her success, Jodie said, “It’s amazing, I can’t stop smiling. It was so enjoyable, more fun than stress. Just such a great experience! I would never in a million years have thought I could win.”
Julie Christie, Jodie’s mum, was overjoyed at her daughter’s success, saying “It’s been very emotional. I’m so proud of Jodie. I didn’t realise how big FutureChef was until now, but it’s so amazing!”
All of the competitors have practiced tirelessly over the last year, and it showed on the day – with the young people remaining calm and collected under pressure. The decision was difficult to make, with such a high standard of cuisine presented to the judges. Jodie was followed closely by the runners up – with Maisie Speller, 14, from Notley High School in Essex coming in second, and Jessica Batchelor, 15, from Aboyne Academy in Aberdeenshire coming third.
2020 marks the 20th year of the FutureChef competition, which has now expanded to become a nationwide programme. The competition consists of four rounds – or heats – with schools, local, regional and national finals. This year saw 15,358 students involved in the competition from the earliest stages, whittled down to the 12 chefs we saw compete in this week’s final. Though the competition was a fantastic tool for engaging young people in the culinary arts, The Springboard Charity knew it needed to do more to accommodate for the needs of the industry, of schools’ Food Departments, and for the students themselves. It was from this need that the FutureChef programme was created, transforming the initiative into a year-round education programme that seeks to inform and inspire young people in schools about food and nutrition.
Brian Turner CBE, the British chef and household name, has been involved with Springboard’s FutureChef since the competition’s inception. He believes the programme is vital for educating young people about nutrition and getting them into the industry.
Brian said, “There are two reasons why we need FutureChef. The first is that there isn’t nearly enough domestic science and food tech being taught today, so young people aren’t learning the basic skills of cooking that sustain their way of living. Secondly, it encourages people to develop their skills and enter into the industry.”
The programme is supported by multiple industry names, including the Worshipful Company of Cooks, The Savoy Educational Trust, Hilton, Nestlé Professional, Zenith Diversey Group, Compass Group, Sodexo, BaxterStorey, Fairfax Meadow, Delaware North, Hit training, Caterer.com and Bidfood to name a few.
David Mulcahy, Food Development and Innovation Director at Sodexo UK and Ireland said; “As a long term sponsor of FutureChef, Sodexo is delighted to support this vital initiative. Each year we are astonished and delighted at the high level of skills and passion from chefs so young. We look forward to welcoming Jodie to the famous Royal Henley Regatta this summer. Becoming a Springboard Business Partner has given Sodexo’s chefs an extra opportunity to demonstrate their skills and communicate their passion to young people who, we hope, will be inspired to follow in their footsteps.”
At this week’s National Final, Springboard announced that for next year, FutureChef would be changing and expanding. The new FutureChef competition will open up more opportunities to the thousands of students who take part every year, by splitting the competition element into two age groups: one for 11-14 year-olds and another for 14-16 year-olds.
Anne Pierce, the CEO of the Springboard Charity, said, “FutureChef has successfully supported the food curriculum in schools while providing a pipeline of talent to graduate into the hospitality industry for over 20 years. This year is no exception and today’s final of the competition saw 12 hugely talented school children show off their talent, having beaten over 15,000 12-16 year olds who have benefited this year. We continue to innovate, and going forward, FutureChef will provide schools with exceptional resources from age 11 to 16 and our new two tier competition will enable even more young people to learn about food, learn how to cook and provide an exceptional talent pipeline into the industry.”
Springboard takes home Partner of the Year Award 2020
On Tuesday 4th February, the Springboard team were absolutely ecstatic to win the Partner of the Year Award at the Movement to Work Social Mobility Awards 2020 for their work with the Diageo Learning for Life programme.
The charity coalition, made up of leading employers, civil society and government, aims to tackle youth unemployment and encourage employers to unlock the potential of young people by creating high-quality work placements with the goal of investing in our economy by pushing for systemic change.
The Social Mobility Awards celebrate and recognise the outstanding contribution made by individuals and organisations over the year to their goal of helping disadvantaged young people gain skills and employment.
Springboard’s achievement was down to their successful long-standing collaboration with Diageo and delivery of the UK-wide Diageo Learning for Life programmes. Inga McVicar, Springboard’s National Head of Employability, has worked with Diageo to deliver the employability programmes for several years during her time at The Springboard Charity. Speaking on the win, Inga said:
“The whole team at The Springboard Charity are delighted to have been recognised as Partner of the Year at the Movement to Work Social Mobility Awards. Having delivered Diageo Learning for Life since 2014, and with over 1800 graduates to date, our partnership with Diageo has helped support individuals into sustainable careers while scouting new talent to join the hospitality industry. On average, 78% of Diageo Learning for Life graduates secure long-term employment after they have completed training.
“Celebrating our 30th anniversary, The Springboard Charity is proud to be proactively working throughout the UK and Ireland with a wide range of funders and industry partners to help young people achieve their potential, and nurture unemployed people of any age into work, alleviating poverty by supporting disadvantaged and underprivileged people into sustainable employment within hospitality, leisure and tourism.”
Lucy Lamb, programme manager, Diageo Learning for Life said:
“We’re really pleased that The Springboard Charity has won Partner of the Year award. The team’s commitment, expertise and enthusiasm is vital to the ongoing success of the Diageo Learning for Life programme, helping young people learn new skills, gain recognised hospitality qualifications and build confidence. A big well done and thank you to all those involved!”
In 2014, Scotland became the first country in Europe to deliver the Diageo Learning for Life programme, which has inspired and transformed the lives of young, unemployed people throughout the UK by providing access to training, skills and qualifications.
If you would like to find out more about The Springboard Charity, then contact stephaniel@springboarduk.org.uk to learn more, or head to our website www.springboard.uk.net
Springboard’s GEMS Placements
A graduate placement may be the answer to your problems
What is a graduate placement?
Graduate placements can be tied into many undergraduate degrees at universities across the UK as a ‘sandwich’ year or short-term placement in between years of study and are particularly prevalent in Hospitality, Events and Tourism. These paid placements allow students to gain exposure to the industry whilst applying the knowledge and skills they’ve cultivated so far in their university studies.
How will a Graduate placement benefit YOUR company?
- Graduate placements essentially offer companies a trial period to train a new member of the team, analysing how well they would fit into the organisation both in terms of culture and ability. The scheme will save your company funds which may have otherwise been spent on a costly recruitment drive with little return on investment.
- They also grant companies ample time to sell the industry and, more importantly, their company to the student for when they come to think about graduate employment.
- Placements provide a fixed term appointment staff member to whom you may decide to allocate specific projects or tasks to synergise the goals of the company as well as the student, who can bring fresh ideas & perspectives on board.
- In providing fulfilling & successful placements to university students, your company’s reputation will improve as word of mouth spreads, allowing you to begin forging a steady pipeline of talented students.
How can Springboard help YOU?
Springboard’s GEMS programme offers students on Hospitality, Tourism and Events based courses the chance to learn from their own personal industry mentor. Our placement bank provides the 100+ GEMS students with a platform to discover meaningful & exciting work placements. Our business partners can access this pool of untapped talent for free by gaining exposure through the placement bank.
Through completing the INSPIRE accreditation, your organisation can also ensure that its work experience placements are of the highest quality. Work experience is the single most important factor influencing careers choices; a strong & worthwhile placement can really improve your conversion of work experience students who will eventually choose to apply for permanent roles at your company.
Find out more about INSPIRE https://industry.springboard.uk.net/getting-involved/inspire/become-an-inspire-employer
To find out more about the placement bank speak to your business relationship manager or email info@springboarduk.org.uk
3 ways YOU can use FutureChef to improve your business
FutureChef is an industry-endorsed programme supporting young people aged 12-16 to discover a love of cooking, inspiring them to embark on a future career in the industry. The programme relies on the involvement of chefs to work with schools, mentoring students during the competition and inspiring them to consider careers in the industry. Using our 20 years’ experience running FutureChef, we’ve come up with 3 key ways in which you can maximise the opportunities available to develop a talent pipeline.
Demonstrate your commitment and reap the benefits!
The success of the FutureChef programme is largely made up of the support and time provided by industry professionals. While they may not be dealing with the stress of working in a professional kitchen, being a Food Technology teacher is tough. With a large proportion of their time taken up by marking, lesson-planning and dealing with pastoral issues, their students could really benefit from an expert voice in the classroom.
For our partnerships with chefs to be successful, we need to have commitment that you’ll uphold your promise.
Of course, we understand that unplanned inconveniences can disrupt your plans though. Last minute bookings? A shortage in the kitchen? Changes to the rota? These things happen but when it conflicts with a visit to one of our schools, there are plenty of ways to tackle it:
- Secure a backup chef in case of emergency – this could be a sous-chef or another colleague!
- If you find out in advance, we ask that you please let the FutureChef team know as soon as possible so that we can rearrange your visit for a more convenient time.
Fostering a good relationship with schools allows you to tap into a large local talent pool. Businesses paired with a school are far more likely to be able to hire those students into apprenticeships.
Remember that you are representing your company AND the industry!
Whether you are visiting a school, mentoring a student or even showing students around your kitchens, it’s hugely important for our chefs to proudly fly the flag for the hospitality industry, using your platform to promote your profession as a fantastic place to work to the students.
- Bring along marketing materials to inform and educate students about your place of work
- Additionally, provide some marketing materials about your apprenticeship programmes
- Help us to tackle the negative preconceptions about working in the food industry and use positive language
- Explain all of the varied opportunities and avenues through which one can become a chef, dispelling any misconceptions the students may have.
- Consider the age of the group you are addressing – with younger students, focus on inspiring them and sharing all of the features and benefits of a career as a chef. For older students who have already elected to study Food Technology, make sure to promote the industry as a whole and educate them on the range of career paths available.
Develop your own staff members’ skillsets through the programme!
Whilst the programme is primarily designed with students and teachers in mind, FutureChef is also a fantastic way of growing and developing the chefs in your own team. The programme provides them with an excellent platform through which they can learn mentorship skills by nurturing young talent, which they can later apply to managing other team members.
“FutureChef affords chefs the opportunity to highlight and develop skills that are required in more senior kitchen roles. Whether it’s presenting to a group of students, developing new dishes with competitors or building relationships for a business with a school, FutureChef offers an environment where your staff can excel.” David Mulcahy, Food Development & Innovation Director, Sodexo
How many junior members of your team would benefit from opportunities to prove their soft skills for future roles in your organisation?