The Buffet Car is a Leicestershire County Council catering training scheme for adults with a learning disability.  All trainees are given the opportunity to achieve an N.V.Q. in Quick service and the Basic Food Hygiene Certificate, both qualifications delivered and assessed in-house.

As well as providing training, we also supply a daily catering service for licensees and visitors to The Springboard Centre.  We operate as a small cafeteria and offer a range of freshly cooked hot and cold savoury and sweet dishes – we also provide refreshments/buffets for functions held in the conference room of the Springboard centre.

The Buffet Car Catering Training Scheme have just recently been given a three star award by North West Leicestershire District Council, this is the highest award given.

There are 8 criteria within the risk rating process, and the scores on the doors take into account 3 of them which are controlled by the business operator, these are;

▪Compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures

▪Compliance with structure of the premises

▪Confidence in management and control systems

The scoring is assessed on previous visits by the environmental health officer.  We have always taken great care in our hygiene practices, and have an open kitchen (customers can see their food being prepared), trainees are taught the basic hygiene skills when they arrive with us, and we hope they will continue to use these throughout their time in catering.

This year two trainees have left the Buffet Car, one has gone to employment at the Hermitage Leisure Centre, and one to voluntary work at an Ibstock residential home.

In March 2007 we visited the fashionable 15 restaurant in London.  The restaurant is run by top chef Jamie Oliver, training unemployed young people as chefs to work in one of the four 15 restaurants.

Following lunch, The Buffet Car party were given a guided tour of the restaurant and open plan kitchen, both staff and trainees found the visit very interesting, scheme manager Alison McLoughlin commented, the idea behind the visit was to let trainee’s see that people from disadvantaged or difficult backgrounds could go on and achieve great things, if given the opportunity and appropriate support.  This is certainly true in the case of the ‘15’ employees and we all came away inspired.