So, today’s our 5th birthday and what a long we’ve come since our first paid job (a £5 per head Christmas party for a group of older people at Newgate close sheltered housing complex in High Green), our first training course at the Broomhall centre and our street food bbq’s to our current Ecclesall Road home.
One thing that has remained the same, is the reason why we do what we do. Here’s a little overview;
1. Creating opportunities – we love passing on our skills and helping people find a sense of purpose. So many people we meet have so little self worth and view themselves in a negative light. My ambition with Blend Kitchen has always been to create a place where people can develop their skills and feel a sense of pride and belonging.
2. Connecting with people – we get to meet people from all different walks of life. From millionaires to people who in the recent past were homeless and everything in between. Our ethos has always been to treat everyone with respect and for us all to learn a little bit about people different to ourselves.
3. Raising aspirations – I started Blend Kitchen because I wanted my daughter’s to grow up with a dad they could be proud of. I didn’t want to go through life never achieving anything of significance. If a chef from High Green can achieve what we’ve achieved with Blend Kitchen this last 5 years, I want my own kids and the people we work with at Blend Kitchen to realise they can achieve anything they set their minds to.
I all too frequently loose site of what Blend Kitchen is about and get sucked into the idea that we’re just a nice restaurant like any other. In reality we’re so much more than that to the people we work with.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and we’ll hopefully see you at Blend Kitchen soon.
Chris
Blend Kitchen chef and founder
