For individuals struggling to find opportunities to train as veggie chefs, we provide scholarship places on our Foundation Certificate in Vegetarian and Vegan Cooking as well as our Professional Chefs’ Diploma. Our first scholar was aspiring chef Rheanna, who had just finished her GCSEs.
She joined our programme with the aim of learning skills which will help her achieve her dream of running her own vegetarian café.
Our Cookery School Manager, Sam, said: “I was delighted that we were able to offer Rheanna a place on our 5 day Foundation Certificate through our scholarship programme. She hadn’t been able to find a course, so she was thrilled to discover the Vegetarian Cookery School”.
The course Rheanna attended is designed to expand student’s repertoire of dishes and help them develop sound knowledge and skills that will make them a more confident cook.
“I would highly recommend others doing this course regardless of whether they are vegetarian or vegan, but particularly for those who are,” said Rheanna. “Meat-eaters were really surprised at how tasty the food was and one planning to open a restaurant was excited about the vegetarian and vegan market increasing. The course expands people’s cooking abilities, recipe ideas and general confidence in the kitchen, and particularly working with others.”
The course gave Rheanna practical experience of working in a kitchen which she hopes will help her gain more work experience. She aspires to continue her journey with the Cookery School through enrolling on the Professional Chefs’ Diploma.
“Without the funding I would not have been able to complete the course… I am really grateful to the Vegetarian Society for making this happen.” Rheanna shared with us that her family are on a low income, which made the idea of attending the course unobtainable until she found out about the scholarship programme.
Stories like Rheanna’s would not be possible without the generous support of our members and donors. To help more dreams come true for aspiring chefs, like Rheanna, visit www.vegsoc.org/donate/.
