Scottish catering courses receive bursary worth £100,000

Scottish universities and colleges have received a bursary worth almost £100,000 to benefit future chefs and hospitality workers.

The money has been provided to help students pay for essential equipment, such a professional standards knives and cooking equipment, and as emergency relief for students in financial difficulty.

A charitable organisation, the Hospitality Industry Trust (HIT) Scotland, awarded the bursary at Gleneagles earlier this week. The fund is shared between 28 higher education institutions from across Scotland.

David Cochrane, chief executive of HIT Scotland, explains the motives behind the funding: "Further education is important to professionalism and aspirations within the industry. It is a shame that people who have the passion to enrol in a hospitality course may have to leave because of financial constraints. These are the sorts of people who can drive standards across Scotland and push the industry forward."

Credit for £53,000 is in an account with Brakes, a major supplier to the industry, to provide professional standard equipment, such as knives, cooking equipment and clothing, at a discounted rate. Lecturers, course leaders and hardship managers also received part of £46,000 to distribute directly to students who require help with none-course based expenses.

Martin Hall, general manager of Brakes Catering Equipment, said: "One of the greatest challenges facing us is the possibility of a skills shortage. Therefore, it's vital that the next generation of chefs and caterers are not only trained to the highest possible standards, but that achieving those standards is made as simple as possible. Catering equipment represents a significant outlay for organisations and individuals alike, so we are pleased that we can help make a difference by being able to support HIT Scotland in nurturing tomorrow's talent through this valuable scheme."

HIT Scotland also operate a scholarship scheme for emerging talent already part of the industry or in their final year of study. The emerging talent scholarship scheme provides money-cant-buy learning experiences at a local, national and international level. Applications for this year's scholarship scheme close on the 30th November. 

Since 1994, HIT Scotland has awarded over a million pounds, helping over 8,000 students.

Weblink: www.hitscotland.org

Words: Maria Bracken

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