Care UK established its own Chef Academy, offering a development programme for people with some kitchen experience who aspire to run their own care home kitchen team. The Chef Academy supports designated training for its chefs of all levels to achieve NVQ 2 and 3.
Katarzyna Haber-Bialkowska started her journey at Care UK’s Highmarket House three years ago as a host, occasionally helping as a kitchen assistant and started studying her first qualification within the Chef Academy.
She said: “I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now without the knowledge I received from the Chef Academy. I just want to continue growing and growing in my career until hopefully one day I can achieve my dream of becoming a head chef.”
#FairKitchens is a world global movement that recognises the talented and creative chefs, but also teaches the importance of having a good work-life balance. #FairKitchens has over 20,000 community members learning from and supporting each other.
Jon Bicknell, food and hotel services director at Care UK, commented: “We are passionate about the wellbeing of our colleagues which is why we are ambassadors for the global #FairKitchens movement, which supports a more inclusive, healthy culture in hospitality.
“We believe our kitchens are supportive and innovative places to work, and we know happy and skilled colleagues deliver the very best for residents. Being a chef in one of our care homes is an incredibly fulfilling experience and we are proud to have so many highly qualified people cooking for residents.”