Accessible life skills kitchen opens to young people

After months of hard work, learners from our alternative provision enjoyed their first catering session in IAF's brand new life skills kitchen. Renovation works, made possible through Mansfield District Council's Pride in Place funding, has given our youth hub a fantastic new teaching and learning space with full disabled access and it's been a pleasure to watch so many young people get involved in the construction project.

Liz, who is completing her King's Trust Achieve programme and functional skills qualifications through our alternative provision, enjoyed the first bake; officially opening the kitchen with a delicious range of sweet and savoury pancakes for everyone to share.

"We want young people to really feel this youth hub can be a home away from home and the kitchen is at the heart of creating this safe space for our learners" explained Pippa Carter, IAF's director. "We're already seeing young people get settled in here, grabbing breakfast, lunches and whatever they need to help them feel ready to engage in our programmes. Looking towards the future, we can see this space hosting Christmas dinners and creating opportunities for young people to host other community events".