Story: John Mellor
Food-i is a new project of Cellar Space based at The Furnival in Verdon Street. A team of catering trained learning mentors works with young people who, for a variety of reasons, have been unable to fully engage with the mainstream education system.
Cellar Space is a registered charity which was started as a small project in 1998 to meet the needs of local disadvantaged youngsters. It has been so successful in transforming their lives that it has grown into a city wide resource, working in partnership with schools and other support services. It provides a personalised programme based on the young person's individual strengths and interests in a safe and nurturing environment.
The centre manager, Ben Harper, told me:
“It was exciting to launch our new project with the support of the Lord Mayor and local schools. At present we have five trainees and plan to increase that to ten over the coming months. Project managers, Tim Hirst and Bex Roberts, work with the young people in producing appetising and nutritious individual meal portions which are delivered to a variety of schools and work places around the city or can be collected from The Furnival.
“Trainees also work towards a food safety certificate and the ASDAN key steps award. We have recently been awarded our 5- star rating from environmental health; in other words, our hygiene standards are excellent!”
