Catering, public uniformed services, and sport students at Telford College were visited by representatives from the Royal Navy to discuss catering career opportunities in the forces.

Stephen ‘Del’ Trotter and Sam Pether, two chefs in the service, set a ‘ready steady cook’ challenge for students in the Orange Tree restaurant at the college’s Wellington campus.

After a short presentation discussing the different roles and benefits of working in the Royal Navy, students we’re set a challenge of making two dishes; chicken kiev with fondant potatoes and chocolate brownies with Chantilly cream and sticky toffee sauce.

Stephen Trotter said: “We’re looking to give students a real insight into the Royal Navy, what we do and how they can join us.

“There are so many responsibilities that a chef has in the Royal Navy. Our job is to cater for hundreds of people on one of our vessels each day, but you could also be cooking for VIPs on land or you could be catering for the masses in a humanitarian crisis. You’re also could be fighting fires, performing first aid, incident management and damage control in worst case scenarios.

“Sam and I are touring colleges across the country, from Manchester and North Wales down to Cornwall and Bournemouth, helping to spread the message of what we do and what you can achieve with us. We offer many benefits, such as access to funding in higher education, discount schemes, healthcare, and a help-to-buy scheme.

“You have to stay in education until you’re 18 and we’re offering apprenticeships across all of our sectors. We want to open their eyes to the opportunity to get experience in the forces whilst earning a salary. We also offer a brand new fast-track chef scheme, lasting 27 weeks based in Winchester.”

Melanie Newbrook, learner manager sport & public services at Telford College, said: “The sessions the Royal Navy held were really valuable for students to understand different roles available in our armed forces.

“The challenge they set was fantastic; it gave students from different subject areas a chance to experience similar challenges and really push themselves. I’m very proud of how well they’ve done and I’m sure they’ll go away from this session considering a career in the Navy.”

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