Mayor urges housing providers to replicate `mind-blowing’ initiative

Mayor urges housing providers to replicate `mind-blowing’ initiative

Local housing providers are being urged to take inspiration from an ‘oven-ready’ initiative in Chadderton that’s boosting people’s job prospects, self-confidence, and cooking skills.
This follows the Mayor of Oldham’s ‘mind-blowing’ visit to Anna’s Community Cafe, a place where people often written off by society are being given the opportunity to gain practical skills and experience in a real-life working kitchen and restaurant that serves the local community.
The multi-purpose project, which is located at St Herbert’s Court retirement living scheme, predominantly supports volunteers recovering from addiction alongside people with learning disabilities and the unemployed.
During their time here, volunteers not only learn how to freshly prepare, cook and serve healthy and affordable meals, they gain a variety of other useful skills including things like how to use a barista machine.
They also obtain valuable experience in stock management and customer service, with the project paying for volunteers to obtain food hygiene certificates and safeguarding training too, to ensure they’re ready for full-time work in hospitality.
But their efforts in the kitchen serve a much wider purpose as well.
This is thanks to a partnership formed between retirement living and extra care provider Housing 21 and local social enterprise organisation Wellbeing Improvement Fitness Initiative & Catering Service North West, who run Anna’s Community Cafe and the retirement living scheme’s restaurant on behalf of the housing association.
As a result, all food cooked in the kitchen feeds the residents and visitors of St Herbert’s Court, with the restaurant providing people with a space where they can come together, socialise and enjoy a healthy meal at affordable prices.
“This is a truly fantastic initiative that we have working down here, and it is one I would love to see rolled out across our borough,” said Cllr Zahid Chauhan OBE.
“Through this partnership, we are seeing those often written off by society benefit being offered the chance to develop new skills, build their social skills and confidence, and become employment-ready.
“But not only that, we also have a thriving community hub where people come together to socialise and eat healthy and nutritional meals, instead of eating in isolation – with some residents coming from as far as Manchester because they like it here so much.
“This project has so many wider benefits, so I’m calling on other local housing providers to come here, learn from this experience and help us to provide a similar support network for other people across Oldham.
“Residents don’t necessarily need a dedicated living scheme to do this, all we need is existing buildings with kitchen facilities in our communities to skill people up and support people’s wider needs.”
Fully qualified international chef Anna Kennedy first started the project back in 2022 having previously felt written off by society herself at a time when she was bordering on alcoholism and drinking up to nine litres of whisky a week.
“People use to reject me, so I know how it feels to be in their shoes,” revealed Anna, having also been formerly classed as morbidly obese.
“Doing this has not only helped me, it’s helped others as well and training these people and seeing them grow into what they are now is my biggest achievement.
“I’ve trained people, who couldn’t even make a cup of tea or use a potato peeler, into chefs who can cook delicious meals such as roast lamb shanks, chilli, paella and chicken curry.”

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