A group of young learners from HBC Tressell Training has taken a behind the scenes tour of the successful Simply Italian group of restaurants.
Luca Venditto, whose father Mario founded the Italian Way restaurant, offered the taster day to learners in February, after visiting Tressell, in Havelock Road, for a Meet the Employers Day. This event allowed representatives from local companies to find out first hand what young people want from work experience.
Learners toured the company’s many bars and restaurants in Hastings and saw a snippet of how the catering and hospitality industry works.
The group saw everything from warehousing and storage to working kitchens and factory premises. They met chefs, office staff, managers, waiters and cleaners alike, who all endorsed the Simply Italian motto: "Making guests happier".
Employees took time to talk to the group about their jobs and the learners were particularly impressed with one Polish waiter, who extolled the benefits of team working and dedication to the job.
George Chapman, operations manager at Tressell Training, said:
"These values, coming from employees in the workplace, only served to underline what trainers at Tressell instill on a daily basis: enjoy and be proud of your work, whatever you chose to do."
As the learners toured several premises, from Tempo in Queens Road, to the longest running The Italian Way on Breeds Place, they acquired a taste for a career in this challenging but very rewarding industry.
From washer-up to restaurant group owner, Luca Venditto and his brother and business partner, showed Tressell’s learners how only your own appetite for success can decide how far, or where you go.
Tressell Training is a training provider for young people aged between 16 and 19, who have experienced various problems.
Council leader Jeremy Birch said:
"This is exactly the kind of collaboration we want to see in Hastings between successful businesses and young people; a real investment in the future."
Hastings Borough Council’s Tressell Alternative Provision 11 (TAP 11) has joined forces with local Commonwealth Gold medallist, Sean Baldock, to help train a group of students for the Community Sports Leader Award.
The 15-week course for this nationally recognised qualification is approaching its end, and the Sport4U community sport project tutors passed the training baton to Olympic athlete Sean Baldock for a two-hour training session. Sean gave the students some ideas for varying their warm-up routines and fitness drills. He said:
"I’m really pleased to be involved - it’s great to see how a course like this can not only encourage sport proficiency, but also promote communication and leadership skills."
Council leader Jeremy Birch said:
"This workshop has proved particularly popular with some of the trainees, as it has helped them with their GCSE PE curriculum work at school, while at the same time giving them the opportunity to gain a qualification. It’s great to see these young people benefit from the experience of a local success story. These workshops are a positive reflection of the aims of Tressell Training, promoting key skills in an alternative environment, and the Sport4U team does an invaluable job providing tuition and support to the students involved."
Tressell’s TAP 11 offers bite-size vocational workshops to Year 11 students with various difficulties in a mainstream school environment. The main aim is to encourage them to stay in school and sit their exams, while improving self-confidence and communication skills, and drawing on their individual strengths. Nineteen students successfully completed the TAP 11 course in August 2004, and another 33 are taking part this year
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This page last updated: 04/04/2005