SERC Lecturer Shortlisted for Institute of Hospitality Award

A SERC lecturer has been shortlisted for an Institute of Hospitality Northern Ireland Award.

Clare Gillen, Curriculum Manager for Hospitality and Culinary Arts, has worked at SERC for over 15 years, and is a finalist in the Lecturer of the Year category.

Clare, who teaches students from entry level through to foundation degree, places a strong emphasis on being innovative and inclusive in the classroom.

Recognising the potential for learner enrichment, she has a personal commitment for competition participation and success. She has coordinated IFEX participation with 21 medals awarded to students this year;  enjoyed overall wins by students at the Royal Navy Cook and Serve two years in a row, and she was personal mentor for the Level 2 competitor and overall winner in the UNOX CombiGuru competition finale in Venice in June.

No stranger to awards, Clare was recognised with a Pearson BTEC Bronze Award for Tutor of the Year in 2022 and was part of the Culinary Arts team who picked up a UK Runner Up Beacon Award and an OCN NI Advancing Learning Through Innovation Award for SERC’s Food Poverty Project, both this year.

Winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony in the Culloden Estate and Spa on Friday 20 September.