It’s hard to believe that we are already at the start of May. It feels as if January was only yesterday. As we get further into the season, we are being kept on our toes with both permanent and relief jobs being registered daily. We are securing chefs with new jobs for the season every week and we are getting new chefs being registered with us too for both permanent, seasonal and relief work.
As we start the new month, we all have new targets to aim for, this gives us goals to work towards. I enjoy having monthly targets as it keeps me motivated to meet them, depending on how the month goes they can’t always be met. I suppose it is part and parcel with the job. I enjoy having goals both in work an outside of work, I enjoy the gym and set myself monthly goals which I always want to meet. I think having goals is an important aspect of working and social life, it gives you something to aim for and keep you motivated.
With the first day of the month drawing in, have you set yourself any personal goals for this month? Either in work or in a personal hobby of yours?
The availability of relief chefs is tight, this is expected for the time of year we have over 60 chefs out working and 23 jobs confirmed this week so far.
If you are a chef and would like to see Scotland then relief work may be suited to you, hours paid, working a minimum of 40 hours over 5 days or 8 hours per day, accommodation provided at no charge, return travelling expenses paid subject to completing the agreed stint. Please email CV’s to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk this should include 2 recent work references and hygiene certificate.
We met a couple of chefs yesterday who have been registered with us for a number for years, get in touch if you want to come and have a chat this can be for permanent also and you can meet with either Jessica or Jade.
We had a very busy week over Easter and this week seems to be busier…………………………. 😊 😊 😊
Here are a few chefs we have out just now
Taylor Mcfarlane is at Loch Melfort Hotel
Mark Shaw is in between Bridge of Cally Hotel and Breadalbane Hotel
Matthew Moorhead is at Airds Hotel
Sebastian Luszczynski is at The Nethy Bridge Hotel
Blair Mackay is at Duisdale Hotel
George McCallum is at Kastille Hotel
Ionel Rizea is at The Torfin
Kevin MacAngus is at Kames Hotel
Marion Pohlmann is at Ardvasar Hotel
Barry Owen is at The Kinloch Lodge
Graham Campbell is at Mackays Hotel in Wick
Keren Tweedie is at Greenwood Loch Holiday Park
John Derrick is at Garfield Hotel
Sarah Pozzi was helping for a couple of days at Perth Race Course and is now at the Cumbria Park Hotel
I would like to thank all our relief chefs for your hard work and support
During my time working as a chef I experienced quite a few different staff accommodations. I was lucky to enjoy some lovely places such as a nice cottage which I had to myself. The only neighbours were sheep in the adjoining field. I had my own room in a staff lodge although never experienced the benefit of a hotel room! The closest I came to this was an en-suite room in the staff block above the kitchen in which you could hear the kitchen extraction as soon as it went on at 7am, not ideal for a day off but handy for a breakfast shift.
I learnt the hard way how important it is to check out the staff accommodation before accepting a job. After taking a job in the lakes and told the accommodation was on site, to get down there and find out it was in a staff house in Windermere which wasn’t the problem. The problem was the single bed with coils springing through the mattress, broken bottles and windows downstairs, subsidence in the tiny room and mould in the bathroom! Safe to say I wasn’t there long after the manager informed me that he had never even been to the house before and wasn’t willing to resolve the problem.
When I was working up in the highlands, I had lots of good times spent in the staff lodge when the summer nights were long, and it was still light at 11.30 at night. We had BBQs and bonfires outside and you could see the deer in the field right next door. One of the many benefits of working the busy season in beautiful areas in rural Scotland.
What would you say is the one benefit of living in staff accommodation while working away from home?
Recent studies have shown that as a consumer we are more likely to choose the cheaper option when shopping for food. When shopping in your local supermarket you often find that there are always deals on frozen meals as opposed to deals on any of the fresh fruit and vegetables etc. You often find in the supermarkets a high calorie sandwich will cost £2 less than a salad box from the same section, this automatically attracts us to the cheaper option to save yourself a few pounds.
Poverty is one of the biggest causes of unhealthy eating in Britain. It is far cheaper to buy frozen, high calorie meals than to buy fresh food. It is often a large problem for families that simply cannot afford the healthier alternative. There are many local fruit & veg shops that are very cheap and affordable to a lot of families but for some it is not an option. Children are more likely to become obese at a young age if they are from a more deprived area as there parents simply cannot afford it.
They say unhealthy eating and obesity are directly linked from your parents. If you are fed high calorie meals along with your parents, then you are at a higher risk of developing obesity at an earlier stage in life. “The burden is falling hardest on those children from low-income backgrounds. Obesity rates are highest for children from the most deprived areas and this is getting worse.10Children aged 5 and from the poorest income groups are twice as likely to be obese compared to their most well off counterparts and by age 11 they are three times as likely”. (Gov Uk website, January 2017).
It is harder to get younger children to eat a balanced diet as they often wont eat fruit and vegetables and usually prefer a diet of processed foods. As a younger child I wasn't that fussy, I would refuse Brussel Sprouts at Christmas but I'm the same today. As a child I would eat almost anything and that's due to the fact my parents introduced these foods to me at an early age.
Do you try to buy a variety of foods or are you strictly healthy foods only in your house only?
We have 74 relief chefs out working this is up by 11 from last year. We have 23 confirmed so far this week with a few more in the pipeline.
We are looking to get more chefs registered on relief so if you fancy seeing Scotland then get in touch rates are £13 to £18 per hour weekly paid PAYE, accommodation is provided at no charge, return travelling expenses are paid on completion of the agreed stint and you are guaranteed a minimum of 40 hours over 5 days or 8 hours per day.
We are also happy to meet chefs at our office in Moffat and this can also be to discuss permanent work just get in touch to check our availability.
Overall it has been a busy week with plenty of permanent jobs going on our website on a daily basis, to get automatic updates of these please register with https://www.chefsinscotland.co.uk/content/account/
We still require hygiene certificates for some of our relief chefs please email these to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Myself and Jessica are in the office until 3pm today and Jessica will work 10am – 12noon tomorrow and on Monday Jessica and Jade will be in the office 10am – 4pm
We hope you all have a lovely Easter 😊
Thanks for all your hard work and continued support
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