A West Lothian social enterprise which provides hospitality training to young people furthest from the job market is seeking to extend its work with social housing providers following a successful partnership with Almond Housing Association.

The Larder Cook School, which was established in 2011, works with a range of partners across West Lothian and beyond to place young people in a working environment that will give them experience and help them move into further education or work.

The organisation was approached by Almond with a view to providing free cookery class to its tenants.

Both organisations operate within the same sectors and focus on employability. There is a direct correlation between the work Almond does working with those on low income, low academic achievement, the unemployed and in particular the young unemployed. Almond gives tenancies to young people from the age of 18, while The Larder’s main focus is on assisting 14-16 year olds through its hospitality employability programme.

Those attending benefit from learning practical cookery skills as well as enjoying a social opportunity and a chance to gain an insight into the many career paths available in the Scottish hospitality sector.

In addition, cookery skills are a strong weapon in the fight against food poverty and reduces the reliance on processed food consumption therefore improving the nutritional intake of those people who have received cookery training.

The classes were funded by Almond and The Larder now hopes to make links with external funding streams in the future to continue and build on its good work.

Rowena Aston, business development officer at The Larder, told Scottish Housing News: “We believe that all young people have the right to be able to reach their full potential and access a job that gives them independence. We recognise that some young people have a number of challenges to overcome so that they can get into work.

“At The Larder Cook School we aim to work with young people between the ages of 14 and 19 who may find it difficult to get a job and who need some additional support. We work with them to build their confidence, support them to gain skills and work experience and find work when they are ready.

“We are committed to developing training and employability programmes with young people that meet individual needs and have individual successes. Our programmes will teach young people both the employability skills required to gain and sustain a job alongside the basic, practical skills required to work in the hospitality sector.”