Activate Learning celebrated Chinese New Year with members of the local Chinese community and welcomed Yuan Yang MP, the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley to The Kitchen at Reading College and University Centre for a special banquet recently.
Jon Adams, Chief Strategy Officer at Activate Learning, opened the evening by welcoming everyone to the event before handing over to Michelle Parks, Group Director of Reading College and University Centre, who spoke about the Reading College community.
Yuan Yang MP, the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley, then spoke about the important role that FE colleges play in the education system and noted how Reading College and University Centre has helped to improve many of her constituents’ lives.
Representatives from the local Chinese community included the new owner of Reading Prison, Mr Channing Bi, representatives from the University of Reading, a headteacher from a local primary school, local businesses and art organisations, attended the two-course event at the on-site restaurant at the King’s Road campus. Alison Webster, Chief Executive at Berkshire LEP, also attended.
The college’s talented Professional Culinary Arts Level 3 students prepared and cooked a range of Chinese dishes, including braised pork belly (Hong Shao Rou), soy and ginger salmon and stir-fried aubergine (Di San Xian) with the mandarin (a mandarin moulded mousse with a liquid centre) for dessert.
Lexie Harrison, aged 20-years-old, from Tilehurst, is studying a Professional Culinary Arts Level 3 Diploma at Reading College and University Centre.
She said: “It’s been an eye-opening event to take part in because it’s a lot of preparation but once it’s done, it makes the whole service go so much easier.
“We’ve never done a buffet-style event before in The Kitchen. For this, we started preparing at 12pm until around 4.30pm, so that it was ready to serve to the guests at the banquet.
“It’s helped me to learn the speed of preparation and service. Doing it repeatedly makes it easier.
“The way the front of house and the events team have set up has been amazing and I hope that the customers had a good time.”
Yuan Yang MP, the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley, said: “It was a lovely occasion. I’m really glad that the college is celebrating the diversity of this community by celebrating Lunar New Year.
“The food has been delicious. I’m really impressed by all the chefs and the wait staff have been really welcoming.
“I’ve really loved talking to Jon Adams, Chief Strategy Officer at Activate Learning, about the role that FE colleges play in the education system. I am particularly interested in the question of how we can improve livelihoods and wages across our regions, and I think adult education and training has to be a big part of that picture.”
Jon Adams, Chief Strategy Officer at Activate Learning, said: “We were delighted to welcome members of the local Chinese community to Reading College and University Centre to celebrate Chinese New Year.
“It was great to see some familiar faces and make new connections to explore what more we could do to support them and members of their community.
“We were delighted that Yuan Yang MP, the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley, could join us as the first Chinese-born British MP.”
The Kitchen is run by students, supported by teaching staff with industry experience. Open to the public during term time, The Kitchen offers delicious food at a lower cost. By visiting The Kitchen, patrons support students in honing their skills. All menus are created to challenge the trainee chefs to enhance the dining experience of their customers.
The Kitchen is currently closed due to the half-term break and will reopen on Thursday 27 February. To book a table, please call 0800 612 6008 or email [email protected] or fill in the booking form via: https://reading.activatelearning.ac.uk/facilities/open-to-the-public/the-kitchen/
