CATERING students have been helping pay back a charity that supports the mental health of hospitality workers across the world.
Level 3 diploma professional cookery students at Darlington College staged a fundraiser in aid of the Burnt Chef Project.
With the help of top chefs David Garlinge and Ryan Pickersgill, they prepared a nine course tasting menu for customers of the college’s Glasshouse Restaurant.
The Burnt Chef project was founded by Kris Hall for people working in the hospitality trade who struggled with their mental health.
It provides a 24 hour text/phone helpline as well as online health and wellbeing modules. It has trained 200 peer support ambassadors and so far talked to 3,700 students in the UK about mental health awareness and stress reduction.
South Shields-born David trained at a North East catering college before joining the Royal Navy where his career was cut short after just 12 weeks when a cannon crushed his knee.
“Catering is an aggressive industry to be part of with long hours and other influences that can affect mental health,” said David, a former chef to David and Victoria Beckham and Gordon Ramsay, who also once taught at Darlington College.
“We go into colleges and try to ensure students adopt a positive mindset rather than follow a negative path. It is a beautiful industry where they can find a passion for what they do. They can learn skills that are a passport to see the world.”
Former Darlington College student Ryan met David while he was on the course in 2018. He stayed in touch and recently joined David in Switzerland as a private chef cooking for high net worth customers in a prestigious chalet.
“Working in a private ski chalet was amazing,” said Ryan, of Colburn, Catterick, who was a chef at Richmond Station for six years. “I saw a different side to the culinary world. I’d now love to do more travelling.”
More than 20 guests enjoyed the tasting menu which was made from cheaper cuts and products often classed as waste, including chicken trims, liver and onion skins.
“Profit margins are on every chef’s mind nowadays with the rise in the cost of living,” said David. “If we can teach young chefs how to use waste products and minimise excess then in the current climate they will be even more employable.”
For mental health help text burntchef to 85258. For more information on opportunities at Darlington College visit www.darlington.ac.uk.