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Social enterprise cook school launches crowdfunding to help more young chefs



A social enterprise which trains young people for a career in the food business has launched a crowdfunder to help it teach another 80 students a year.

The Larder Cook School  in West Lothian has already increased the number of 16 to 24-year-olds it supports from 80 to 200 in the last year.

 

It also aims to increase staff numbers from 21 to 23.

The social enterprise, which has received ongoing support from Business Gateway West Lothian , was founded by former community development manager Angela Moohan in 2010.

Working closely with schools and the council through various programmes, including Developing Young Workforce (DYW), it sets out to change and enhance young people’s lives by building their confidence and developing skills for work from as young as 11.

Following the opening of its East Calder Café Bistro and two satellite cafes in Armadale and Fauldhouse in 2018, the Larder Cook School has supported and trained an additional 15 school-aged youngsters at both sites and created 12 new jobs.

 

The crowdfunder aims to raise £20,000 to help fund a second training kitchen, costing a total of £75,000, at its head office in Brucefield Industrial Estate. That would accommodate the training of 80 more young people a year, provide more SQA qualifications and employ two new staff.

Moohan said: “At The Larder Cook School our key focus is on ensuring every young person gets the chance to enjoy a positive education experience in a setting that meets their learning needs through cooking, which helps them to build confidence and learn new skills.

“We provide an environment that is supportive and nurturing, where young people can get their first taste of academic success and reach their full potential.

“Now with over 45% of our staff being graduates of our training programmes, our goal is to increase this year-on-year and help so many more youngsters in the community get off to a good start in life with a job they enjoy and feel fulfilled and rewarded in, which our new second training kitchen will allow us to do.

“We are hugely grateful to all of the support we’ve received from Business Gateway West Lothian from strategic leadership to social media marketing, which has really given us the confidence to continue to grow and help even more youngsters in the community.”

 

Cathy Muldoon, executive councillor for development and transport, said: “We are delighted to support a local social enterprise like The Larder Cook School, who deliver important training opportunities for many young people in West Lothian.

“Their expansion plans will enable them to support even more local young people to develop their skills.”



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