What’s 4 Lunch? Part 4“4Lunch is a social enterprise working with communities in Greater Manchester,delivering cookery courses, catering and food business training.” Here is the final part of the 4Lunch series! We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have, and that it has inspired you to take action with your own ideas. Amy has some truly beautiful stories of individuals she has worked with, who have made dramatic changes to their lives, purely through their own determination to make it work against the odds. It is these successes and watching people break through their barriers that makes all of the tough times worth it. “One of my proteges is Nadua, a single mother from Libya, with four kids. She makes wedding cakes, birthday cakes, and does catering for big events. When I first met her, she was a fantastic cook, and she had an idea for a business, but not a clue about the practicalities of starting a business. I could see that she had high levels of enthusiasm, and a strong determination to make life better for herself and her family. This made me want to dedicate my time to her.
I have also worked with many people who just don’t want the help. For a long time, I would feel guilty about these situations, and would come home after a hard day and ask questions like, what did I do wrong? Could I have done anything different? Yesterday, I was running the course at Manchester Metropolitan University, and one guy didn’t turn up for the second time, so I emailed him and said, ‘sorry, your place has been given away now’. There is a cost for me being there. I have places I need to fill. In business, you have to be fair, but also ruthless. If people really want it, they will be prepared to work hard for it, and will ask for a second chance. But if not, I just stop caring.
Some friends asked me once what I wanted to be when I was older, and I said I would like to be a food critic. I was always watching cookery themed programmes on TV, and always looking at things to do with food culture. Cooking calms me down If I feel frantic or anxious, the first thing I will do is cook! For someone struggling with confidence or self worth, cooking is like a quick achievement. It doesn’t take too long to put something amazing together, but it’s creating something, and this is immensely satisfying. It involves focusing on what is physically in front of you, which is also good for mindfulness. It’s a therapeutic sensory activity. It’s also an activity that a lot of opportunity can come out of. It’s great to just make a great meal for your family, but if you want to take it further, there is food blogging, instagram, catering, and so much more. There’s such a big demand for food culture, so there’s no reason why you can’t just create your own job out of it.
Also, I can see that the instant success culture is rampant. We see great people achieving great things, and think we want to be them, but we never really see behind the scenes, into reality. I wish successful people would be more honest about their struggles, and that it’s not all ponies and rainbows. Not every day can be easy. 4Lunch is a social enterprise working with communities in Greater Manchester, delivering cookery courses, catering and food business training.
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