'Fabulous Baker Brothers' visit Hadleigh Farm

 
 

TV’s ‘Fabulous Baker Brothers’ visit trainees at Hadleigh Training Centre and official Olympic Mountain Bike course

Stars of Channel Four’s new series ‘The Fabulous Baker Brothers’, Tom and Henry Herbert, visited Hadleigh Training Centre on Tuesday 31 January 2012 to work with Salvation Army trainees and go on a special tour of the official Olympic Mountain Bike course, at Hadleigh Farm. The visit follows the donation of cooking equipment from Appliances Online, used in filming of their hit Channel 4 show, to The Salvation Army centre.

The Fabulous Baker Brothers’ series currently broadcasts on Wednesdays at 8.30pm and stars brothers Tom and Henry who with five generations of baking tradition behind them, take viewers into their own kitchen and share their culinary secrets developed over the years through their passion for food and baking.

The brothers enjoyed a fun-packed day which included teaching trainees to cook one of the recipes from their new book, visiting the Tea Rooms and Rare Breeds Farm at the centre, all of which provide opportunities for trainees to gain real-life work experience and the chance to develop highly transferable skills.

Tom and Henry particularly enjoyed working alongside trainees at Hadleigh, who are referred to the Centre as a last resort due to circumstances out of their control, which often result in them being unable to cope with the structure of a mainstream training programme. This can happen for a number of reasons, they may, for example, lack the necessary practical skills and/or have difficulties in the area of social skills. Trainees may find it difficult to relate to those around them and may need to build up their confidence and self esteem before moving on to employment or further training.

The brothers donated the appliances through the UK’s largest online kitchen appliance retailer Appliances Online, and gave their own reasons for supporting the Salvation Army:

“We had a great day at Hadleigh Training Centre and loved meeting everyone and seeing the good work being done. We know how important the work of The Salvation Army is in getting people, who might otherwise be overlooked, back on their feet. It was wonderful to see the kitchen appliances put to such a great use and great fun meeting the trainees and getting stuck into some good old fashioned cooking sessions – we never turn down the chance to get our hands dirty!”           

Principal of The Salvation Army’s Hadleigh Training Centre, Bradley Craddock said:
“Our trainees are already making excellent use of this generous donation in our kitchens where they are receiving training in all areas of working in a commercial kitchen.  I am certain there will be plenty of baking taking place over the coming months.  Tom and Henry were really interested in looking around our centre and the farm at Hadleigh and witnessing the work of the trainees in not only the kitchen, but in the many other areas in which we provide training.”

This is a great to start to what promises to be an exciting year for The Salvation Army in Essex as land at Hadleigh Farm which it has operated for over 100 years as a place to give vulnerable people new opportunities in life, is providing the host venue for the London 2012 Olympic Mountain Bike competition on 11th and 12th August 2012.