As we welcome in 2023, we wanted to take a moment to look back at the fantastic achievements of our charity partner Chefs in Schools with the support of the TFP Foundation.
This year Chefs in Schools started working with 16 news schools, supporting them with training and recruitment to transform their food and food education. This brings their total reach to 69 schools with over 28,800 pupils enjoying incredible food every day, targeting their support where a significant number of students are on free school meals. They've also expanded into the South West with their first ever Cornish school, Marlborough Primary, and they've established a foothold in Yorkshire. There are lots of positive discussions in progress to drive towards even more schools in 2023.
"School lunch can be an education - the kitchen team can teach children about food in an exciting and creative way" - Headteacher
2022 saw the team pilot the School Chef Educator training project which was completed by 45 aspiring, talented participants. This is the first ever qualification for school chefs and aims to upskill and inspire school kitchen teams to create and cook nourishing food from scratch in line with School Food Standards. The goal is for every school in England to have a professionally qualified chef by 2030 and to make food an integral part of school culture.
The Hackney School of Food, pictured below, continues to deliver transformative educational programmes to children, families and the local community. Since Chefs in Schools co-founded the school in 2020, thousands of pupils have passed through its doors, developing lifelong skills and knowledge, as well as a love and appreciation of real food. We will be sharing a digital toolkit early this year outlining our experiences in Hackney to promote and encourage similar food education programs in schools and communities nationwide.
2022 was also a year of campaigning for change, focussing on the urgent need to expand Free School Meals to hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged children living in poverty in England. In collaboration with The Food Foundation, Sustain, Child Poverty Action Group, School Food Matters and more, in November we launched the #FeedTheFuture Campaign.
"One of the children were caught stealing from pack lunch boxes as they didn't have a meal. We provided one for them." - Teacher
The cost of living crisis has put even more pressure on schools but yet again they have stepped up to support their families. Many of the partner schools have set up hardship funds and food markets to support those most at risk of going hungry. We continue to see the amazing school chefs and kitchen teams strive to deliver the best food they can, constantly adapting to rising prices and supply chain induced food shortages.
In March 2022, Chefs in Schools launched their very own cook book which brings together an inspiring collection of delicious healthy recipes that are cooked in Chefs in Schools kitchens and served to partner schools everyday. The launch of the book means that parents across the UK can 'Feed your Family' with tasty, nutritious meals from the Chefs in Schools team – get your copy here.
During 2022 (up until November), through our various activities including 1% of revenue donations, e-book sales and the TFP Challenge, we've donated £28,421 to support the essential work of Chefs in Schools and continue the drive shift the future of food, health and education for future generations. But the work doesn't stop here, Chefs in Schools have ambitions plans for 2023:
- Transform food and food education in another 20 schools, reaching an additional 6,500 pupils nationally
- Roll out the School Chef Educator training programme to 100 schools, training up to 250 school chefs and reaching thousands more children
- Build the Chefs Alliance into a support network which will underpin in-house school food across the country to become the aspirational body for school food across the public sector
- Invest in impact measurement and evaluation resources, embedding learning across all of their work and share insight with others
By working with thefoodpeople, you are supporting the amazing work of Chefs in Schools, if you'd like support further there are many ways to get involved – buy a copy of our 16 Years in Trends e-book or donate directly here! If you're not able to donate please raise awareness of the work of Chefs in Schools by sharing, liking and forwarding our posts on social media.
We look forward to partnering with Chefs in Schools throughout 2023, supporting them to shift the future of food, health and education for future generations.
Find out more about The TFP Foundation here.