“Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us...”

By Hannah Saverymuttu

Ok, so it might not be our actual Birthday, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the fact it’s been a whole month since Rise's official launch! Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to…

Our roof garden is coming along nicely, and we’re proud to have already used our home grown fruit and veg in our baking. You can’t beat local ingredients, especially when our trainees can pop upstairs to harvest them themselves.

Our roof garden, open for tours on Saturday June 18th

In other news, we’ve picked up a few fans, with this rather flattering blog post, a review in the Guardian, oh, and did we mention Nigella is a fan...?

The lovely Mary, Ant, and the rest of the team have been selling cakes (and giving out tasters to a lucky few) at Spitalfields & Brick Lane markets, just down the road from our kitchen in E1.

Here we are donning Rise Aprons and wo-manning the stall last week.

Aprons on, ready to hit the market

LAST MONTH IN NUMBERS...

• 6 incredibly talented ex-homeless trainees learnt to bake

• Over 700 people liked our Facebook page or followed us on Twitter (thanks, we appreciate your support!)

• And Marco and the team have lost count of how many brownies they've made...

Thanks for all your support so far - here's to the next amazing month.

Speed Volunteering via Team London - by Rheanna Griffin

Recently I had the pleasure of volunteering with Rise Bakery to help promote their delicious brownies outside Spitalfields market. We had a little stall set up (decorated with balloons of course) and from there we gave out some brownie tasters to the extremely eager public (no one turns down free brownies!) along with information about the amazing work that Rise do!

Luckily the sun was out so lots of people from the offices came out side for their lunch break, some from near-by offices even said that they had seen us from the office window and so had come down to check out what we were up to!

One of my favourite recurring situations was when groups of very serious looking, suited-work folk would pass and one or two of the group would look so longingly at the brownies but under peer pressure, would pass us by with the rest of their group. Oh the pain in their eyes.

I had multiple chats with passing Londoners throughout the day and it was so lovely to experience the amazing level of interest which many of them had towards Rise. Some even described situations in their own life or of someone they knew, where a social enterprise like Rise would have made a really positive impact on them. I think it’s fair to say that I had a pretty inspiring day and would recommend volunteering with Rise or Providence Row to anyone else!  

Right now Rise Bakery is looking for delivery assistants, get involved!  

Recipes from our Corporate partners

Some staff at the wonderful Andaz Hotel Liverpool Street have sent us some of their favourite recipes to share with you guys. We conducted a little interview with them to find out where they got their inspiration from! 

Churros by Alber

Ingredients:

250ml water

2 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

125g plain flour

2 litres oil for frying

100g caster sugar, or to taste

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

1.    In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Bring to the boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.

2.    Heat oil for frying in deep-fryer or deep frying pan to 190 C. Pipe strips of dough into hot oil using a pastry bag. Fry until golden; drain on kitchen paper.

3.    Combine 100g sugar and cinnamon. Roll warm churros in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Is there a story behind the recipe?

It comes from my grandmother. We used to do it together when I was a child. I have really good memories about those moments!

Why do you like the recipe?

It reminds me of being back in my home in winter next to the fire place after finishing my school.

What are your favourite foods?

I don’t really have a favourite food, I like to try different kinds of food and London is amazing for that!

Any tips you can offer in relation to this recipe, cooking or food in general?

You have to take “churros” with a cup of good chocolate but the dense one!

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Lemon Polenta Cake Recipe - Simon Willcox

I've been trying for ages to find a great gluten free recipe that we can use in our Friday bakery workshops for people who have experienced homelessness. What I really like about it is the opportunity to teach the group how to make a cake without using flour (even without gf flour!)

We made this today and had a lot of fun. We used mini silicon loaf moulds, but this recipe is for a larger loaf tin. Enjoy!

Simon’s Citrus Polenta  

• 350g butter
• 350g caster sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 200g coarse polenta
• 425g ground polenta
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 finely grated zest and juice of a large orange

For the syrup:

• Juice and zest of 2 lemons
• Juice and zest of 2 oranges
• 200g granulated caster sugar
• 100ml of water  

Some trainees at today's workshop

Oven temperature - 160C

1.      Use a loaf tin 30cm long and 11cm wide (or thereabouts), grease with butter and line with baking paper.

2.      Beat the butter and sugar in a food mixer until light and fluffy.

3.      Add one egg at a time and keep beating until the mixture is of one consistency.

4.      Mix the coarse polenta, ground almonds and baking powder together, before adding to the butter mix.

5.      Add the orange zest and juice.

6.      Pour the mix into the loaf tin. Bake it in the middle of the oven for about an hour and 20 minutes.

7.      To make the syrup, put all the ingredients in a pan and warm gently on the hob for 10 min.

8.      Then bring it to the boil (and then watch closely). When the bubbles on the top have doubled in size, take of the heat and leave on the side.

9.      When the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in it using a toothpick or similar object.

10.  Warm up the syrup and pore over the cake.

11.  Leave the cake to cool overnight before serving.

Our Start-Up Social Enterprise Adventure by Anthony Pitt

Wow. We’re finally here!

We have been on what has been an incredibly fun and rewarding journey in the past eight-or-so months. The lovely folks at the City Bridge Trust, part of the City of London awarded us Stepping Stones funding in September 2015 to ensure that Providence Row could build a robust, sustainable, and thriving social enterprise.

Providence Row's Enterprise & Training Team

We at the Enterprise & Training team took responsibility for Providence Row Bakery, a wholesale operation that had been running for the past two years, at this point. We thought that it was a great setup; selling cakes wholesale to local cafes. There have been some amazing results with the trainees we involved too; we worked with 30 clients, supporting many of these into work and training.

This programme provided us with great foundations on which to build. We knew that the concept of a social enterprise bakery was sound, and had a few brilliant weeks of thinking of all the directions which we could take it.

Our team has had incredible results in the past few years. As well as coming second in the London Homelessness Awards (and collecting it from the Houses of Parliament in the process), we have won a Social Justice Award from the Centre for Social Justice and a Lord Mayor’s Dragon Award for the support and training we offer people who have experienced homelessness. Last year alone we worked with 121 clients, working with them to achieve 29 job starts and training outcomes.

Collecting Our Award from the Houses of Parliament

Another really important part of our work is to make sure that our people get their confidence back. We have a 10 week programme of motivational employability workshops, Working On It, designed to give people the soft skills they need to succeed in the workplace. We have worked with some amazing companies here, including Freshfields LLP, Kuoni, and more, getting office tours, staff meet and greets, and excellent training.

But anyway, back to business!

During planning there were three key themes. We wanted to make sure that our products were client-friendly – something that we could teach, but also something that developed rounded baking skills. We also wanted something amazingly tasty, as well as that we could feature produce from our amazing roof garden in later on.

A Trainee At One Of Our Workshops

We were leaning towards focusing on one key product, while still offering a broad wholesale range. What really sealed it was said during one of our early meetings with Unreal UK, an amazing company that supported us to develop our branding and concept on a pro bono basis. They were grumbling about the poor standard of sweet treats available in the stores near them and the logistical difficulties of ordering from a supplier.

We had already noticed that there were really limited options for getting great cakes delivered quickly which could also be easily ordered but this meeting helped spur things on. We set about building this amazing website, as well as developing a product that could easily fit through a letterbox, or that could be sent via courier without getting damaged.

We chose brownies, because they tick every single box. And also because our Head Baker Simon developed the MOST amazing brownie recipe going. We’ve still kept our wholesale presence though – we love our customers, and we can offer them a broader range, which means that our trainees get to learn to make a wide variety of produce – cakes, quiches, mini fruit loaves… you can see the full list here.

Our White Chocolate & Raspberry Brownie

Alongside this, we have really overhauled the client training we offer. Trainees can now access a 12 week programme, a curriculum of baking workshops interspersed with accredited learning (Level 2 Awards in Food Hygiene and more). They also undergo an induction process where a personalised support plan is developed with a dedicated advisor, who supports them to address any mental health, substance misuse, or employment barriers that they face.

I think it’s fair to say that at Rise we’re about two things. Excellent support. And Excellent brownies. And we’re lucky that we work with excellent people to ensure that they have an excellent future. Here’s to us continuing to Rise…

Providence Row Catering Trainee Scheme: A blueprint for success, by Dom Gates

The last year has been a big year for Providence Row. A few weeks ago our Catering Trainee Scheme scooped second place at the prestigious London Homelessness Awards, in memory of Andy Ludlow

We’re over the moon to be receiving recognition for our innovative approach; an approach that we realised early on garnered strong, positive outcomes for our clients. Although the scheme focuses on food, I believe the heart of the success of the scheme is our investment in, and commitment to, positive risk-taking in a supportive environment. It was this risk taking that impressed the LHA judges. 

We offer a personalised service which takes into account the challenges of rough sleeping and/or living with substance misuse or mental health issues. For people affected by these issues to be truly motivated , they need the opportunity to train, to be part of a team and to feel like they are moving forwards from day one.

For example, some schemes require participants to get clean first. We don’t. We just ask that trainees engage with support staff to tackle these issues, whilst training. We find that, while on the scheme, clients reduce their drinking and drug-taking.

So with this in mind, and with £15,000 from the Awards in our back pocket,  we are branching out. Replicating some of the key components of the catering scheme, we believe we can have the same success training people in horticulture, baking and building too.

Our brand new gardening trainee scheme is now available so those that our more green-fingered clients can pursue their training; growing and maintaining a working kitchen garden on our roof while also getting the support they need from our support workers onsite. The food we produce is used in our kitchen, and this binds all the trainees together as a community; growing, reaping and cooking food for the 30-50 rough sleepers who join us for breakfast and lunch each day.

With all our training schemes, our trainees are also working towards a qualification. With the gardening trainee scheme, they are working towards a Level 1 certificate in horticulture.  We’ve thought carefully about what trainees do after the course, and help pave the way in advance for ‘move on’ with advice on job search, CVs and interviews.

For those with a real interest and flair for baking, we have now developed a bakery training course, as part of Providence Row Bakery (our social enterprise and a real business, selling cakes and baked goods to local cafes and shops). This accredited scheme gives trainees real, authentic experience being part of a growing small business. There’s a tangible end-product, and customer service expectation, which is great experience for our bakers, who take a great pride in their work, and our products.

Our next idea will be building. But regardless of the subject the approach is the same: Giving as many people as possible to opportunity to train and develop, whilst receiving the support they are entitled to, and need, to succeed. The LHA has helped us do this.

Volunteering from Across the Pond by Nancy Sutter

This blog post was written by our superstar intern, Nancy, in December 2015. She played a key role in helping us transition from a small wholesale operation into the amazing social enterprise we have now!

 

Volunteering from across the pond

Nancy and Julia - another ace intern.

Volunteering at Providence Row has been a true highlight of my study abroad experience in London. As an American, it has been my first exposure to a British not-for-profit and I am continually impressed to say the least! The more time I spend at Providence Row, the more I learn about the unique services they offer and the good they bring to the community.

The Learning Programme at Providence Row makes many different activities available with the hope that clients will get involved in something they enjoy. Activities include art, English and IT. These opportunities inspire confidence again in skills, new or renewed, as well as provide an environment for clients to build new social networks. By making these different activities available, Providence Row is helping people out of homelessness by giving them access to support during their journey.

The majority of my time at Providence Row has been spent developing the newly established social enterprise Providence Row Bakery. When they join the bakery trainee scheme clients can work in the kitchen baking goods that are then sold to the local area.

Clients have the chance to take part in the many steps from baking to delivering, gaining experience in a real business that can greatly improve a client’s CV. It’s a big project that has been really fun to be a part of.

My tasks at Providence Row have mainly included gathering and organising up-to-date market research in order to formulate strategies and plans that will help achieve the bakery’s goals. I have created surveys and visited cafes in the local area to discuss their strengths and weaknesses as a business as well as their interest in supporting our bakery. Upon analysing the collected data we have been able to create innovative market strategies to generate even better economic returns.

Pitching Providence Row Bakery to the local area was a challenging but rewarding task. Asking businesses to take time out of their day can seem invasive and disruptive but important to the success of the Providence Row Bakery. Providence Row has created support and opportunities to so many different people and continues to do so every day. Speaking with local businesses about Providence Row and informing them on how they can get involved becomes easier when you are speaking on behalf of a wonderful organization.

The people at Providence Row are fun and supportive making my time here an enjoyable experience. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend my last two months in the UK volunteering at Providence Row before I go back to the United States. I will be sure to check in on the bakery and spread the word about Providence Row.