The success of students from Craven College was recognised earlier this month at a county-wide awards ceremony at The Principal Hotel in York.
Joined by comedian and writer Maisie Adams, attendees at the event heard a range of inspiring stories from participants in the Multiply Scheme and saw Craven College students Mozghan and Sonia Omari win an award for their incredible accomplishments.
The Multiply programme, funded through Better Connect works towards boosting numeracy skills in work and daily life. Funded through the government to the tune of £560 million, Multiply aims to transform the lives of hundreds and thousands of adults across the UK.
Through the project, Craven College can offer support to anyone aged 19 and over in the Craven and surrounding area who currently does not have maths at GCSE at Grade C or equivalent. The sessions run at our Aireville Campus are designed to build confidence in using numbers in daily life including budgeting, managing bills, healthy eating, understanding payslips or specific numeracy skills such as percentages or fractions. These unique sessions are tailored to individual needs and can be delivered in small groups or 1:1.
Mozhgan is a proud mother of 11 children. The family moved to Skipton in late 2021, after being forced to flee Afghanistan to escape the Taliban. The family has always enjoyed cooking and entertaining, and it is an important part of Afghan culture to be able to share food with friends old and new, and they have certainly made many new friends in Yorkshire! Mozhgan’s return to education has become a true family affair with husband Ahmad and daughters Sonia and Aveed learning alongside her as part of the Multiply Project, whilst three of her younger children have enrolled on various courses at Craven College.
Through the Multiply project and by connecting with their Keyworkers, Mozghan and Sonia have been able to start an exciting new family venture in catering. Our staff have worked alongside the family, developing their understanding of being financially independent and using their new-found knowledge alongside their cooking skills to learn about budgeting, booking systems, pricing, labelling, temperature control, and food hygiene as well as calculating their all-important costs and profit margins. This support has enabled them to set up a pop-up restaurant in the local area, which has been extremely popular and generated further bookings whilst introducing the local community to Afghan cuisine and culture.
A college spokesperson said: “Yesmien Bagh Ali and Amanda Ball, both members of the college’s projects team, supported the business from conception to reality by arranging food safety training, registering them with Companies House, sourcing vital equipment and instructing the mother-daughter partnership on how to use it.
Yesmien and Amanda attended the evening and weekend pop-up restaurants to give advice, support and of course to sample the delicious Afghan cuisine. Uniquely, both members of staff have a background in catering and their expertise was vital when advising on portion management and the legal intricacies of delivering food to the community.
The Omari family are just one of our success stories, and we’re proud of all our Multiply students who come from a range of diverse backgrounds and communities who enjoyed their own successes as a result of the programme.”
The pop-up restaurant proved so popular further events had to be delivered to cater to demand, and the family are now motivated to progress their business to cater for the wider community! Afghan Star Cuisine is now a registered business and has received bookings for parties and weddings!
For Keyworker Yesmien Bagh Ali, the Multiply project isn’t just about the course “As Keyworkers we have developed a positive relationship within different sectors of the community. Through the project we have worked both with groups and individuals to support positive progression, so participants can develop in confidence, and it has been a fantastic opportunity for us to build trusting relationships and network with a diverse range of groups. We have had individuals progress to their Level 2 Maths, which gives them an even greater skillset to help them gain or even improve their employment.”
The Craven College Keyworker teamwork within the community delivery sessions at local community groups alongside working with individuals. The team can be totally flexible on where and when sessions are delivered, with previous courses taking place in local libraries, college buildings and community settings.
From healthy eating on a budget to enjoying cultural celebrations on a shoestring, the Keyworkers at Craven College turn the sometimes-intimidating world of numeracy into fun activities that not only improve your skillsets but give you a chance to meet and socialise with a range of people. If you would like to improve your numeracy skills, and maybe open some doors for yourself, contact www.craven-college.ac.uk/the-college/projects
