Founded in 2020 by Daniel Wade, Jessica Aggarwal and Tom Surgey, the hitherto Sussex-based charity works with top chefs to deliver food education classes in primary schools and secondary schools to combat obesity and ‘help equip kids with the life-long skill of cooking, creating memories at home in the kitchen and fostering healthy relationships with food’.
Prept – which is now the charity partner for Restaurant’s National Restaurant Awards – points to research that shows one in five 10-11-year-olds are now classed as obese and that children living in deprived areas are twice as likely to be overweight than those in more affluent areas.
The Primary School programme introduces kids to tastes, skills and hospitality, helping them to learn fundamental life skills and develop healthy eating habits.
The Secondary School programme supercharges the school curriculum with their chefs inspiring students to cook and ‘offering a real pathway into the diverse world of hospitality’.
In 2022, the foundation raised funds to build a training kitchen within Plumpton College, Lewes, to ensure that schools have access to catering equipment and introduce the farm-to-fork concept from a working dairy farm.
The charity unveiled its new name and branding at an event at Mayfair’s Michelin-starred Hide Restaurant earlier this week with some of the UK’s top chefs supporting the cause including Matt Abe, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Adam Byatt, Tom Shepherd and Tom and Rob Aikens.
Canapés and bowl food were served by pupils from St Matthew’s Church of England Primary School in Redhill (pictured above).
“Working with organisations like Prept provides us with reassurance that we are showing children and young people ways of having a healthier and more fulfilled future as well as opening up a whole new industry that they have never experienced before,” says Kate Penfold, the school’s headteacher.
“Not one of the children here today has been in a restaurant, let alone one of this calibre. To watch how they have grown in confidence since they first walked through the door has been amazing.”
Rob Aikens adds: “Prept is so important to our industry. To be able to share our knowledge and experiences and to introduce the next culinary generation is something that we are so passionate about and is a true gift for us all to share.
“We are honoured and fortunate to play a role in their future and to be part a of this event. We are so excited to watch the next generation grow and develop and we very much look forward to the future together.”
Aggarwal says: “It’s amazing to be able to showcase our rebrand to an audience who have supported us so much in the past three years. Prept reflects the energy and passion the team have for getting young people inspired by food and hospitality.
”It looks to the future and enables us to teach more children fundamental skills, and we are lucky enough to be supported by some of the country’s best chefs and partners such as Thomas Franks, the leading contract catering company, who are inspiring a whole new generation to cook.”
