Savoy funding helps The Grove serve up new opportunities

An award-winning college restaurant which received more than £26,000 from the Savoy Educational Trust has reopened, serving delicious food and successful training opportunities.

After months of closure following the Covid-19 pandemic, The Grove in the David Hockney Building at Bradford College has reopened to staff and students. It is celebrating new opportunities to offer young people on travel, hospitality and catering courses the chance to train in a real-life working environment.

Sarah O’Connell, travel and tourism lecturer and course leader, said: “The Grove has successfully provided work-based learning which has improved employability skills, confidence and self-belief.”

Work-based opportunities

Customers can relax with cakes and coffees served by students who have completed barista training. This training is thanks to the Savoy Educational Trust, which awarded Bradford College £26,390, enabling the college to create a coffee lounge within the restaurant.

As well as creating work-based learning opportunities for students on travel, hospitality and catering courses, the lounge has enabled Bradford College to provide an additional curriculum alongside its main study programmes. This has provided opportunities for work-based learning and ensured students have sought-after employability skills.

After completing their barista training, students went on to gain in-house work-based learning by running the café.  The students also gained transferrable skills to be used within various roles throughout the hospitality industry. In addition, they were educated about the different careers available throughout the industry. Sarah added: “It has also ensured that the cafe bar is staffed and it has secured part time paid work for many students.

Great success

“I also feel students have enjoyed the experience. We have had great success in terms of grade profiles and excellent external verifier feedback has been received from the exam body about the project, the cafe bar set up and the student success.”

The funding also allowed staff members to complete the barista course, which then enabled them to teach students. Finally, the money paid for new equipment, fixtures and fittings.

About the Project Team

The grant was successfully bid for by the college’s projects team, which supports teams throughout the college to research opportunities and apply for funding for a wide variety of projects. Sarah said: “It was a seamless process working with the projects team to coordinate and support our application for funding through the Savoy trust. Excellent guidance and support was provided to help secure the funding, which continued beyond securing the funding. It has been a great success and credit to the projects team and their hard work ensuring such projects for student futures.”

The Grove is an AA Rosette-winning restaurant and Centre of Excellence in Patisserie and Confectionery.

You can find out more about our Hospitality and Catering courses at https://www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk/catering-and-hospitality/

The Savoy Educational Trust

The Savoy Educational Trust is an independent, grant giving charitable trust, whose main aim is to advance and develop education, training and qualifications within the hospitality industry.

The Trustees award grants for a wide variety of hospitality related projects to:

• Educational establishments to enhance training and education facilities for their hospitality departments
• Associations to support those initiatives that will make a real difference to the hospitality industry
• Charitable organisations/social enterprises with specific hospitality related projects
• Individuals studying hospitality may be eligible to apply for a grant via their college