Scran Academy’s work with young people has been recognised in two separate Industry Awards.
On Thursday 09 September 2021, John Loughton [founder] and the North Edinburgh charity won the Apprenticeships and Skills category at the 2021 Public Sector Catering Awards, that celebrate those working within public sector catering.
Scran are also a finalist in the Charity of the Year category of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO) Scottish Charity Awards 2021, celebrating the best of Scotland’s voluntary sector and voted for by industry professionals and the public. The winner will be announced at an online ceremony, hosted by Sally Magnusson tomorrow (Friday 1 October).
The Apprenticeships and Skills Award, sponsored by Brakes, recognised that Scran Academy’s catering operations are an integral part of Scran Academy and are essential to delivering confidence-building experiences for young people.
These include the Scran Café which is located in the NHS Comely Bank Centre and currently creates a welcoming haven for frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees.
The charity also runs its Scran Van, which delivers free community meals, feeds youth groups and supports families across the city. These provide our young people with opportunities to learn, gain new skills, work as a team and solve problems in real-life situations.
Scran Academy was up against stiff competition from across the whole of the UK, including Hospitals, Universities, large catering companies and industry bodies. However, thanks to its team of volunteers, staff and young people, Scran’s unique model of bespoke educational support and training won the day.
Scran pipped, amongst others, University College Birmingham, Compass Group UK and Ireland and The National Association of Care Catering to take the award.
For the Charity of the Year Award, SCVO has recognised Scran for ‘coordinating a coalition of charities that produced, packaged and delivered nearly 150,000 meals during the first Covid-19 lockdown, supporting over 1,000 people per week at its height’.
None of this would have be possible without the 220 local people who gave tens-of-thousands of hours back to their communities. In 2020 SCRAN also delivered its most successful Christmas Hamper campaign, selling 222 in total.
The organisation also merged with Prep Table Scotland, opened the Scran Café in partnership with NHS Lothian and launched the Scran Van food truck to tackle holiday hunger across Edinburgh.
Scran Academy founder John Loughton, and Catering Manager, Will Bain, attended the Public Sector Catering Awards ceremony in London.
Scran Academy Catering Manager, Will Bain, said: “It blew me away to be up against catering managers with hundreds, sometimes thousands of employees, and for them to give us recognition for the work we do at Scran.”
Founder of Scran Academy, John Loughton BEM, said: “This nomination is a real vote of confidence in our community work and a recognition in the power of food to change lives.
“Will Bain and his team-work magic at Scran, to ensure food is positive for all people, not just those that can afford it. At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs and young people go on to change their own lives once they realise people believe in them.”
Scran Academy’s focus is to help young people from across North Edinburgh to overcome learning and life barriers and lead more meaningful lives.
The community-based school Scran runs – the Scran Academy – uses food to support learners disengaged from mainstream school to access qualifications and work.
Despite being less than four years old, the charity has grown and last year scaled its impact to provide meals for thousands of people throughout the pandemic across the city.
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