The Bath Soup Company was set up by University of Bath graduate Dominic Povey three years ago as a social enterprise to support disadvantaged people in the city.
It makes locally-sourced soup and its school provides training and experience for people looking for help getting back into employment.
A graduation ceremony was held at Bath Rugby Club to honour the students who had completed the nine-week Growing to Plate journey through Bath’s independent food industry. The course started with the group digging for vegetables at Bath City Farm and ended with them serving up their soups to customers.
It included two sessions of bread-making, two sessions of soup-making and the completion of a health and hygiene level 2 certificate.
They then did three weeks of practical work experience in a café environment.
The Genesis Trust, a Bath charity which works with the homeless and long-term unemployed, saw nine of its clients take part in the pilot of the Bath Soup School.
Life Skills co-ordinator Denise Weikert said: “The group that I’ve been particularly working with for this project is our employability group called Step-Up.
“When I spoke to Dominic about the Soup School it matched all the things that we’ve been doing.”
The graduation ceremony was attended by representatives from local charities, businesses and organisations, which had helped to make the course possible.
Mr Povey said: “It was great to see so many representatives, from so many organisations across the community, coming together for such a worthwhile cause.”
The graduates received a Bath Soup Company fleece, a Bread Revolution book, donated by the Thoughtful Bread company, and certificates, endorsed by the University of Bath.
The company encourages cafes, delis or restaurants in the area to help support the soup school project by getting in touch about stocking Bath Soup.
A documentary created by young film-maker Rachel Lewis, which tracked the progress of the students through the soup school, can be seen at www.bathsoupcompany.co.uk.
Source: Southwestbusiness.co.uk, Friday 17th August 2012
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