A 12 week project that will allow young people to carry out gardening and growing their own foods.. Indoor food training sessions with other young people during school holidays, learning to cook foods from different cultures. Carry out street food trading work experience in a community market environment. Completion of all stages of the project young people will be given opportunity to obtain a level 2 food safety certificate.

What we'll deliver:

• Create a Community Communal and Garden Space for the community and young people to develop their food growing skills.
• Regular (Weekly) cooking sessions in a kitchen setting for young people aged 11-16.
• Develop a young peoples market for regular street food trading experience for young people aged 11-16.

Why it's a great idea:

The Cook to Trade project will help young people by providing a productive outlet to develop skills and education about food, also providing essential life skills, valuable experiences like customer service skills and a recognised qualification. This project will test the abilities of young people, it will provide them with a project that provides multiple outputs and completion of the project will provide young people with many positive results, this includes learning to grow foods, a qualification, greater community participation. This experience is a stepping stone for young people who have an interest in food whether it is becoming a chef, catering or continuing to sell street food to learn more and become more adequately prepared for their next step in education and or career development.

Steps to get it done:

• Recruit volunteers to begin garden project
• Clear garden space to prepare for space development
• Begin building communal and garden space
• Begin scheduling the days we will be street trading with young people
• Pay for space hire that will allow young people to attend training in the kitchen
• Create calendar of street trading days for young people
• Coordinate with partners and participants to start 12 week project.

Many of the young people that live in Croydon are growing up in socially deprived areas and circumstances. The Healthy Weight action plan for children and young people in Croydon 2017 – 2020 has outlined the young people who are most likely to be affected by obesity come from socially deprived areas. Croydon is also going through a regeneration by creating new investments in the borough, we would like to help young people also take a positive role in this change. The Croydon Economic development plan 2013 – 2018 promotes the importance of small businesses and encourages borough support for small businesses to have more opportunity. This is an enterprise project for young people aged 11-16 that is operated as business and has aims to grow and be sustainable. It also aims to allow young people with a serious interest in food a platform to develop their skills, get valuable experience, receive a qualification and the opportunity to be paid by using their own skills and enterprise.