Deeside College catering students cook up charity funds at Mold Food Festival

Sep 23 2009 By James Shepherd

Deeside College Catering students last weekend played an influential role at the fourth annual Mold Food Festival.

At the Festival, which attracted around 10,000 visitors, was an Interactive Cookery Zone hosted by Deeside College.

For a small donation to the College’s chosen charity, PAPYRUS, visitors were offered the chance to try their hand at a range of cookery techniques. The demonstrations, which included sugarcraft, fruit flowers, stir frying and flambéing, proved popular and raised £1,600 for the prevention of youth suicide charity.

The Festival was also home to a 400 seater Cookery Theatre which was organised and run by College Catering staff and students.

At the Theatre visitors were able pick up tips on how to create a range of different dishes. Speaking after the event, Professional Catering student Daniel Austin said: “Taking part in the Festival was a great experience. Getting the chance to work in front of a live audience doesn’t come around every day.”

Chris Jones, Deeside College Programme Area Manager for Catering & Hospitality, added: “All our students worked extremely hard at the Mold Food Festival and everyone is delighted to have raised so much money for PAPYRUS.

"Working at such a large and successful event demonstrates to potential employers that the students can work responsibly and as a part of a team. This kind of work experience is typical of that we aim to provide our students. For instance, last year all our students worked at Chester and Cheltenham Racecourses”