The college had to take part in a variety of activities to achieve the accreditation. Both Lecturers and Learners were interviewed and their skills training sessions were observed to ensure they met the high standards required by the Craft Guild of Chefs.
The accreditation process also included an assessment of the East Avenue Restaurant at Eastleigh College, conducted by David McKown, the chair of the Craft Guild’s Education and Training Committee.
Greg Cheeseman, lecturer at Eastleigh College, commented: “We are thrilled to be awarded the Craft Guild of Chefs College Accreditation, it is a great achievement for our students and staff.
“This cements the hard work our students put into their training, running East Avenue Restaurant and their education, we are delighted to be the first college in the South of England to achieve accreditation.”
As the leading chef association in the UK, The Craft Guild of Chefs has always been committed to increasing the standards of professional cooking through greater awareness, education, and training. It is keen to do more to inspire the next generation of chefs at a grassroots level, which is why it launched the accreditation programme.
The scheme is aimed at colleges and universities that want to benefit from the association’s decades of experience and to tap into its extensive network of chefs by associating their faculty with the Craft Guild of Chefs name.