The Last Instalment

What’s 4 Lunch? Part 4

How Amy Win, economics student turned social entrepreneur, is breaking the mould using food as a way to improve lives and build communities.

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. ​

Catch Up - Part 1

Catch Up - Part 2

Catch Up - Part 3

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.

Jason was the only person in his family not to have gone to prison. He enrolled on my course, and soon got a job in Slug and Lettuce in Manchester in the kitchen. When he met up with me later on, he said that the course had really helped him to become disciplined and organised. He had a lot of issues - he had a lot of abusive relationships with family members, so he had run away from Coventry to live in Manchester, and was staying in hostels. He also had learning difficulties and ADHD, so cooking was good for him. It helped him to learn to focus on one thing at a time, which was previously a big struggle for him. ​

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. ​

Why food?

Cooking always interested me from a young age, but my parents would not allow me to cook at home, because they didn’t want me to make a mess. Sometimes, when everyone was in bed, I would get up and bake scones in secret. If I left something in the sink, I would get shouted at.
​On the rare occasion I did cook, my parents would be watching me, and as soon as I would put down a dirty spoon, it would be taken to be washed immediately. When I got to university, I was super excited to finally be able to cook for myself.

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.
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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.

The advice I would give to anyone who is interested in trying out social enterprise would be this: find yourself a really good business partner or two to help you out, and have at least £6,000 in the bank. Also, know what it is you really want. If it’s luxury holidays and buying loads of stuff, then it’s not for you. ​

Personally, I don’t go shopping very much. Also, I don’t watch loads of TV, because I use my free time to focus on my business. I had to minimise my life because I had very little money for a long time, but I kept up the lifestyle. I don’t think much about what I wear, so I wear the same few things all the time. ​

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. ​