Staff: Angela Reittie's story

Angela Reittie, Head Chef at Bluebell Park

Angela has worked at Bluebell Park Care Home as a chef for 7 years and recently made use of the skills she has learned in her career to benefit the younger generation too.

A local school for young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, organised a cooking event with celebrity chef Levi Roots and advertised that they needed some extra help to make the day run smoothly.

Angela put herself forward as a volunteer and helped by guiding pupils as they prepared their chosen dishes and checking the children were using knives safely and in the correct way.

Many students at the school in Derby have gone there following a disrupted period in education and these kinds of events are seen as highly important in reengaging young people in learning and inspiring them to be successful.

Angela said: “A lot of the children involved in the cooking session had come from very difficult backgrounds and meeting Levi Roots was so exciting for them. Levi spoke about his upbringing and how couldn’t read or write when he was 12 years old and the fact that now he is a multi-millionaire is a real inspiration.

“I felt honoured to be part of this day and to be able to assist the children to create dishes they were proud of. I also got to listen to the presentations they gave about their cooking. There were eight children there and the youngest was eight years old.

“There is now the potential for me to do more with the school and I’ll be very keen to help again at their next event.”