Jamie Oliver gets grant to train budding Hackney chefs

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s apprentice programme has bagged a £8,000 grant to train Hackney youngsters.

The Fifteen Apprentice Programme, providing culinary training to disadvantaged Londoners, received the grant from bank Santander to help more young people access its year-long training.

Mr Oliver offers unemployed, aspiring chefs between the ages of 18 and 24 on-the-job experience and college qualifications.

Neil Lovell, chief executive of the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, who run the programme, said of the grant: “This support will give some of the most disadvantaged young people in London an opportunity to turn their lives around and build successful and rewarding careers in the food industry.”

The foundation also works in local schools, educating children about eating a balanced diet and how to cook basic, nutritious meals.

Mr Oliver said: “My charity aims to inspire people to reconnect with food.

“It’s all about raising awareness and individual responsibility, resuscitating dying food culture around the world and, ultimately, keeping cooking skills alive.”