Free training places open to aspiring chefs

A GROUP of local hotels and Cork College of FET (Westside Hospitality Centre) have collaborated to launch the second intake of the West Cork Chef Academy.

The academy is the brainchild of the college’s John Byron,  hospitality training specialist Karen Healy and Neil Grant of the Celtic Ross Hotel. 

It aims to address the serious challenges in recruiting staff to the hospitality sector while further promoting West Cork as a food destination. 

It is also an opportunity for someone looking for a career as a chef.

Cork College of FET’s Westside Hospitality Centre is a centre of excellence for hospitality training in Cork, and is managed through Cork College of FET (Bishopstown campus).

This innovative programme took place for the first time last year with participants from Celtic Ross, Eccles Hotel, Liss Ard Estate, Fernhill House Hotel and the Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore.

Last year’s programme was a great success, and two of the graduates have now gone on to study the Level 6 commis chef apprenticeship. 

This year’s programme is open for applications, and anyone with an interest in beginning a career in chefing is encouraged to apply. 

Learners will train for 26 weeks and will benefit from on-the-job mentoring and receive a City & Guilds Level 2 diploma in food preparation & culinary skills on completion of the course.

After an induction week in April at the hospitality centre on the Model Farm Road, the trainees will continue to attend there one day a week, and will spend the other four days working and benefiting from on-the-job mentoring in their assigned hotel, over a further 25-week period.

The programme is funded under the government Skills to Advance initiative which subsidises employees to engage in further education  and training courses without any cost.

For more information on the programme or the open day, contact [email protected] assistant manager in charge of apprenticeship and skills to advance, Cork College of FET.