Vote now for Rachel Carson at European VET Excellence Awards

One of our Catering apprentices, Rachel Carson, is in the final for the European VET Excellence Awards taking place in Vienna.

The awards highlight best practice and recognise excellence in Vocational Education and Training (VET) all over Europe. 

We need your support to help her win.

Please vote for her by clicking here

Enter your name and email, select Rachel Carson– you don’t have to vote for all the other categories unless you want to, and scroll down to the very bottom and hit submit.  

Voting closes 7th November

Rachel's Story

You can listen to Rachel's interview with Lisburn's 98FM here

Rachel has succeeded in overcoming dyslexia and developing industry-leading skills as a chef at Novelli: the restaurant of multi-Michelin Star award-winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.  

Starting training in 2015 at Belfast’s South Eastern Regional College (SERC), Rachel is now in the first year of a Level 3 Apprenticeship, actively involved developing new menus, setting up a completely new dessert section, even creating a vegan dessert for the restaurant.  

Rachel has earned the trust of the Head Chef, and her responsibilities exceed the standard for apprentices – she is now Senior Chef de Partie, with total accountability for shift operation. Rachel is responsible for 3 Commis Chefs, providing mentoring support and monitoring the quality of their work to ensure the high standards expected of a Michelin Star chef. Rachel has raised the profile of apprentices by receiving numerous awards, including several Apprentice of the Year awards.  

Rachel was also selected for a 2-week Erasmus+ VET mobility – completing training at the renowned Fegrappa vocational college and the exceptional pastry café Pastelería Francesa Lambert, returning with skills to further her own training and the restaurant.