The Chefs’ Forum is appointed ‘Hospitality Client’ in prestigious city competiton

More than 100 state school students from across Bristol are set to came face-to-face for the first time with five of the South West’s leading organisations, set become their ‘clients’ as part of the RSG Bristol Young Student of the Year 2012 competition.

The Chefs’ Forum is delighted to be one of them!

On Wednesday 7th November, Catherine Farinha, Chefs’ Forum Coordinator and Claire Arbery, Head of Apprenticeships at City of Bristol College attended the ‘meet the client’ event at Leigh Court business centre, Bristol.

Catherine presented The Chefs’ Forum, how it encourages and enthuses the students’ peers and what has led to its status the South West’s leading industry networking group.

Claire taught the students about the apprenticeship opportunities available at City of Bristol College and the great range of catering and hospitality courses available. She gave real life case studies and examples to really engage with the groups on a peer to peer level.

Next month, based on proposals submitted, Chefs’ Forum Committee members will chose a group of students from those present at the event will be chosen to create The Chefs’ Forum hospitality careers portal on the Bristol Young Futures website.

This will be a Chefs’ Forum showcase for any young person looking to a career in hospitality with information on courses, work experience, local chefs and case studies on apprenticeships.

Chefs’ Forum Committee committee members as a collective will mentor and lead the students through its creation to ensure it represents education and industry in the best possible way.

It was the first time the young hopefuls met the business people with whom they will be working closely over the next six months in order to improve their future employability skills.

The ‘master-class’ session held on Wednesday focused on the topic of marketing, and was led by John Tarrant, director of creative agency DNA. The students will met representatives from Bristol Media, LEP, Atkins, RSG and Chefs’ Forum.

The event formed the first stage of the RSG Bristol Young Student of the Year Awards, a practical competition that pairs students with businesses and aims to tackle youth unemployment in the city.

Now in its second year, the competition, which aims bridge the gap between employers and young people in Bristol, is open to 16-19 year olds and is free to enter for all state schools, colleges and academies in the Bristol area.

Run over six months, the competition has three stages and presents students with the opportunity to win a life-changing scholarship with BPP University Collegeworth £15,000, alongside a number of other prizes including internships, work placements and jobs.

The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Bristol Young Futures’ which will involve pairing students with real clients from key industry sectors in Bristol.

Elaine Brown, founder of RSG Bristol Young Student of the Year, commented: “We are looking forward to introducing the students to their clients this week as the first part of this innovative competition. Participating students will be tasked with working with their clients to create a concept that feeds directly into a dedicated online portal, which will showcase a number of career opportunities available to young people in the region.”

Mike Beesley, CEO of RSG, headline sponsor of this year’s RSG Bristol Young Student of the Year, commented:

“We were delighted to kick off the first round of the competition this week. We are confident that the RSG Bristol Young Student of the Year Awards will give young people the chance to develop some tangible employability skills, helping to address the rising levels of unemployment within this age group in the local area.”

Since its launch last month, the competition has attracted significant backing from the Bristol business community, with nearly fifty professionals signed up to mentor the students and national recruitment organisation, Resource Solutions Group Plc (RSG) pledging to become the competition’s main sponsors for at least two years.