Food for thought:
The project teaching homeless to cook
‘Living in a B&B, there’s rules for everything. You can’t cook for yourself and you can’t keep food in the building,” says David, 17, a regular at youth homelessness charity the Rock Trust.
While rough sleeping is a growing concern across Scotland, life in hostels and B&BS has its hardships too. Although it provides a roof over someone’s head, much temporary accommodation – which many vulnerable youngsters stay in for extended periods of time – doesn’t offer access to a kitchen or cooking facilities, and the only hot food eaten is whatever can be made using a kettle.
Last year, the Rock Trust handed out almost 300 food parcels to young people – the most popular items were always pot noodles and cup-asoups.
“Rough sleeping is regularly under the spotlight, but the experiences of homeless young people in temporary accommodation are rarely in the public eye,” says Kate Polson, chief executive of the Rock Trust. “We want to start conversations about the longterm impact these experiences are having on young people, their mental and physical wellbeing, and their capacity to move on with their lives.”
Homelessness is an issue which disproportionately affects young people under the age of 26. In 2017, young people made up 27 per cent of homeless applications to Scottish councils, while young people only account for 11 per cent of the population.
Founded in 1991, the Edinburgh-based charity works with young people between the ages of 16-25 who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
The charity offers a range of support and services to young people who find themselves on the street, including a cooking group. A meeting with Fiona Donaldson, chef and founder of social enterprise Prep Table, took that group to the next level and in January this year the Catering Academy was born. The aim of the academy
“Rough sleeping is regularly under the spotlight, but the experiences of homeless young people in temporary accommodation are rarely in the public eye”
is to support the health and wellbeing of a raft of young people who have slept rough or are living in temporary and supported accommodation.
As well as providing a healthy home-cooked meal once a week, the Catering Academy offers young people affected by homelessness the chance to work alongside Fiona in the Rock Trust’s on-site kitchen and café. Not only do they get guidance from a professional chef, but they learn the benefits of buying and cooking food as a group.
“I’ve loved being a part of the Rock Trust Catering Academy,” Fiona says. “Although people can come to the hub in real distress, the atmosphere created by the wonderful staff makes it very easy to feel comfortable and supported. The possibilities of what the Rock Trust can achieve both within and outside the work we are doing together is huge, and I’m very excited to continue to work with them to take their food production to the next stage.”
With a regular turnout on Monday evenings, the Catering Academy is offering a lifeline to many young people. “There’s a keen group of up to 10 who regularly show up on Mondays,” Fiona explains. “There are also two or three
young people who regularly come for one-to-one sessions on other days of the week because they really want to learn more about food and cooking.”
Aside from giving vulnerable young people a nourishing, healthy meal, the Catering Academy offers the chance to learn new life skills. For some of the group, it has sparked interest in a career in hospitality and catering.
“Yesterday we made seafood chowder, fresh bread and pineapple upside-down cake,” says 19-year-old Michael, who has regularly slept rough in the past. “I’ve just moved into my own place and everything we cook here I try to cook again at home. I want to work in a professional kitchen but don’t have any experience, so nobody will take me on. Fiona and the Rock Trust are helping me build up my CV. I want to be a chef.”
“The food’s really good,” adds 17-year-old Cassie, “we’ve been trying lots of new stuff. I found out I actually like fish!”
Eighteen-year-old Rosie, a regular at Rock Trust groups, says, “We know that if we come we’ll get to eat a proper meal. I’ve been in a hostel for three months now. I had to leave my family because of my mental health. When I’m not at the Rock Trust I mostly eat pot noodles. I used to come to their evening groups just to eat, now I join in with whatever is going on too.”
It isn’t just the young people cooking the food that get to benefit from it. The Rock Trust runs regular evening groups, with activities ranging from CV workshops to music jams and short-film courses. The Catering Academy is now preparing the food for all of these groups, which means around 30 desperately in need young people are getting a twocourse, freshly-cooked meal every week.
“These young people have been amazing,” Fiona says. “They eat vegetables now and love trying different things. When we cook something they’ve requested, the guys know that they are valued. When they cook something themselves and everyone wants second helpings, you can see what it means to them. I’ve been touched by how much they look out for me and insist I sit down and take breaks to eat too! We’re bringing everyone together, raising confidence and building relationships through food. It’s extremely powerful.”
Catering Academy operations manager Andy Murdoch explains, “We want to show our young people the value in buying and cooking for larger numbers, and at the same time help them develop new skills. By cooking as a group, they save money, eat healthy food, waste less, and have more choice about where their food comes from.”
With the project launch, the academy also trialled food delivery. Individual portions of food were delivered to young people in hostels across Edinburgh. The response was hugely positive and the plan is to make this a core part of the project going forward. Currently on the lookout for funding to make this possible, the hope is that it could form the basis of a sustainable enterprise model with the potential to benefit hundreds of young people every year.
“The Catering Academy was created with young people, for young people. What you eat may not seem as important as having a roof over your head, but providing that roof alone, without supporting young people’s physical and mental health, will do nothing to help young people move on from homelessness for good,” explains Kate.
● For more information on the Rock Trust see www.rocktrust.org/donate