At the Local Heat stages of the competition comes the introduction of the mentor chef. Springboard source well-respected chefs from across the UK, who are then screened by our partners and the Craft Guild of Chefs, the UK’s leading chefs association. Springboard will allocate a mentor chef to judge at a Local Heat and then assign the chef to the winning student. These chefs are usually based close enough to the school in order to make it easy to meet. Mentor chefs act as a vital link between Industry and education and are primarily there to help assist and guide the Local Heat winner successfully throughout the rest of the competition.

Qualities

A mentor chef needs to be someone who has been a qualified chef for at least 5 years. They must enjoy training and working with young people. They need to consider themselves to have a fair amount of patience and are willing to give up sufficient time to spend advising and training their protégé for the event.

They will assist the young chefs in the planning and preparation of their menus, make visits to the schools, arrange for the young chefs to visit their establishments, help in practising the dishes and pass on valuable tips and advice for the competition.

It is important that all the students have an equal opportunity in the competition and we therefore ask each Mentor Chef to spend a minimum of two practice cooking sessions with their competitor. This can either take place at their place of work (if this is practical) or at the school (Arrangements to be made direct with their contact teacher or parent/guardian).

The Role

Local Heats:

• Chefs will act as a judge at the Local Heat stage
• Winning student/school will be assigned the chef/judge as a mentor
• Mentor chef to help the winner with their menu planning, budgeting, food preparation, cooking and presentation in preparation of the next round

Regional Finals:

• Mentor chef to continue giving support to Local Winner on the planning, preparation, presentation of their dishes for the Regional Final
• Mentor chef to take Local winner to their establishment to give them an idea of what a working kitchen is like
• Mentor chef to commit to a minimum of two practice sessions with the Local Winner before the Regional Final. This can take place either at the school/college/mentor chef establishment

Grand Final:

• Mentor chef to continue giving support and ideas to the Regional Winner before the Grand Final
• Mentor chef to commit to a minimum of two practice sessions with the Regional Winner before the Grand Final
• Mentor chef to accompany the Regional Winner to the Grand Final in London for support

Please note that mentor chefs will not be allowed into the kitchen areas during the Regional or Grand Final stages whilst cooking is in progress.

Guidelines

• From the list of participating schools, Springboard will assign to you a student close enough to either your work or home to make it easy to meet.
• Get to know your student’s capabilities.
• Let your student choose their dishes with advice or hints from yourself.
• Plan with your student how and when they will be practising.
• Make sure all instructions are read carefully so no mistakes are made.
• Always give positive feedback.
• Cover Hygiene and Health & Safety issues with your student.
• Make sure the school or parents are always aware of what is happening.
• Encourage your student to produce a full menu, recipe and method of work, including equipment requirements.
• Ensure that a budget for food cost and equipment is agreed including the cost for practice sessions.

For more information on the role of the Mentor Chefs, the FutureChef competition and how to get involved, please contact James Duke-smith, Springboard UK on 020 7395 9496 or jamesd@springboarduk.org.uk