Salford City College’s hospitality and culinary arts department was awarded £1,375 by equipment specialist Robot Coupe in the fourth year of its discretionary allowance scheme.

This enabled department head Lee Allsup to set up work placements for 37 of his NVQ level 3 students at establishments ranging from Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxford to L’Enclume in the Cumbria, and 32 students have been offered jobs at their placement restaurant when they finish their course this year.

Allsup said the donation had a snowball effect: “I was thrilled when I heard that we had been chosen to receive this year’s Robot Coupe donation, especially when the Craft Guild of Chefs has worked with me all my professional career and helped me fund my level 3 at Westminster Kingsway when I started out as a commis at Claridge’s and then the Ritz.

“The added beauty is that the donation not only helped to pay for the travel and accommodation for 37 two-week work placements at some of the top restaurants in the country, it has paved the way for other great things. For instance, chefs from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage have also offered to come here and cook with us. It really has opened a lot of doors.”

He added that assistance from associations such as the Craft Guild helped inspire young chefs to seriously pursue cooking as a career. “Inner city kids, for example, don’t necessarily have the opportunity to get out of town and see how some of the Michelin-starred restaurants are run, and a bit of outside help gets them in there pulling their weight.

“This all has a ricochet effect, increasing their aspiration levels and raising their own profiles. It’s also about promoting our industry as a whole and helping to develop the skills within it,” he added.

The Robot Coupe allowance was set up in 2010 to help fund training needs in the sector and is administered through the Craft Guild of Chefs. The nominations are assessed by a panel of three including: Robot Coupe director Ed Cotterell, a senior trustee of the guild, and Craft Guild CEO Martin Bates.

Cotterell said: “Typically we give a large number of individual awards which is generated through fundraising events within the foodservice industry. This year, in the case of Salford College, the decision was made to award the college. There were so many worthy individuals we decided the college could make the decision. One is using the allowance for chef jackets, another for travel and another for knives.”

For more information, visit www.craftguildofchefs.org or follow the Craft Guild of Chefs on Twitter @Craft_Guild. For more on Robot Coupe, visit www.robot-coupe.com/en-uk.