Catering Scotland

A competition programme which aims to champion individuals with disabilities in the hospitality industry is to celebrate ten years of success with a day of workshops and gala dinner.

The Culinary Ability Awards has joined the Zero Barriers Project – uniting six European organisations under the banner of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme – and will deliver two free-of-charge workshops this  Thursday, 10^th September.

Aimed at eliminating language barriers in kitchens, the workshops – which are aimed at university and college students, as well as employers – will examine the idea of using 280 different signs to aid more efficient communication.

Culinary Ability Awards founder, Chris Sandford, comments: ‘Once you understand these signs, you can communicate with anyone.

‘Crucially, the training can be delivered by deaf or hard of hearing teachers who rely upon sign language in their daily routine.’

And on Thursday evening a gala dinner for 100 guests will celebrate disabled, trainee-level chefs from across Europe who’ll be given the opportunity to test themselves in the kitchen.

‘We’re bringing these guys into an extremely high pressure environment to cook for a lot of people, they’re meeting new faces, using new equipment and often not talking the same language,’ adds Chris.

‘It’s a serious challenge, but it’s all about giving individuals an opportunity to prove themselves, regardless of their disability.’

www.culinaryabilityawards.com