Simon Boyle of Beyond Food helps people whose lives have unravelled

Through Beyond Food and its London restaurant Brigade Bar & Kitchen, both owned and supported by PwC, he has developed courses that give people the tools to rebuild their lives. Hospitality skills and a love for good food provide a backdrop, but what is being demonstrated to those enrolled is not just how to make a latte, serve a table or make a meal, but how to recognise their own potential and believe in it.

The Caterer joined a cohort in their first week of the programme, for a day in Borough Market, during which we were challenged to shop for the ingredients those enrolled would use later in the week to prepare a selection of canapés. Those taking part spanned several generations, some having struggled in educational settings, others having endured physical and mental health problems, abusive relationships, brushes with the law and setbacks that had led them to be out of employment and in some cases in temporary accommodation.

The cohort were at the beginning of their time with Beyond Food and Boyle explained that these early weeks are about providing structure, a space to talk and an environment to examine the possibilities and opportunities that could be available to them.

In the hustle and bustle of Borough Market on a sunny lunchtime, amid throngs of tourists and office workers, we tasted cheeses and cured meats, smelt spice mixes, handled produce and discussed what they would present later in the week. The task initiated conversations, revealing individual experiences, interests and knowledge and, as Boyle explains it, provided inspiration, not just for bite-sized snacks but for experiences beyond day-to-day challenges.

"Most charities believe everyone needs a job, so they give people a CV workshop and an afternoon of interview coaching. That's not what people need. They need someone to sit with them and remind them what life is all about and to get them to understand they're the priority and they need to look after themselves to make the right decisions.

"Looking after themselves may be something they've never done. Most of them have unravelled in their lives and actually trying to gather yourself together again without the right support is impossible, so what we try to do is a mix between inspiration and support."

Thread the needle

Boyle's journey to the creation of Beyond Food began in 2004 when he travelled to Sri Lanka following the devastating Boxing Day tsunami to create a relief camp. He returned home with the conviction that he should do something with his life that would have a positive social impact. While looking for direction he came back repeatedly to homelessness and displacement, recognising how easy it is for the fragile stitching of a life to unravel. He says: "You can lose the thread of life so easily and not always through your own fault, so my question was ‘how as a chef can I do something?'. I still wanted to be a chef and cook, but how could I do that and help people?"

Originally, he thought Beyond Food would be a six-month project, but it quickly grew. The first 18 months were spent working out of the House of St Barnabas in London's Soho, which Boyle transformed from a hostel into an event space. When the lease expired, Beyond Food moved to Tower Hill, a move that proved a difficult transition and the foundation came perilously close to collapse. Desperate to secure investment, Boyle turned to television's Dragon's Den, where he "got a lot of love but no money".

"They loved it, but said it wasn't a profit-led investment. There was a massive discussion where I was saying ‘we're about profit, I want to make a profit, it's just what we do with that profit is not what you do with profit'. They all helped me in the end, just not with money."

The dragons' wallets may not have opened, but when the programme aired it was seen by someone who did want to step in. "By the time it aired, the business wasn't in great shape," Boyle says. "He [the investor] caught me late one Friday night and I was looking at the salaries trying to work out how I was going to pay everyone. He came to see me and gave me £125,000 for no equity. That was huge, it was a crazy Saturday morning."

While trying to attract backers Boyle had also taken part in the Sparks challenge (a kind of Dragon's Den for social entrepreneurs), which was sponsored by PwC. Discussions with the company led him to a derelict former fire station adjacent to the professional services network's London head office, a stone's throw from London Bridge. The building now houses the Brigade Bar & Kitchen, an all-day brasserie open Monday to Friday, from which the foundation offers work experience and apprenticeships, as well as the classrooms and teaching kitchens from which Beyond Food delivers its programmes.

PwC's involvement grew further after Boyle's wife was diagnosed with cancer. Needing to dedicate himself to his family, he transferred the ownership of the charity and restaurant to the business with the agreement that he would continue as chief executive and that tackling homelessness would remain the lodestar the social enterprise was led by.

Food as a foothold

Over the years the programmes delivered by Beyond Food have adapted to the changing needs and realities of the people Boyle is trying to help. For a long time, apprenticeships formed the backbone of its offer, but these were proving financially challenging for those enrolling, so programmes have since shifted towards shorter periods of work experience, during which they can continue to claim universal credit, which is topped up by Beyond Food with travel, food and shopping vouchers.

"It also means we can help many more people," Boyle explains. "We could only take up to 14 apprentices, whereas now we can take 24 people every six weeks. When we're fully open we've got three different shifts and we're looking to open up our ops office as well, even across events and marketing, so we'll fill the place up with people learning."

For those joining the programme there's a journey to the pass of Brigade Bar & Kitchen. New cohorts take part in the Fresh Life programme, which over three weeks empowers individuals to gain essential life skills as well as work experience. When they are ready, the foundation will provide an introduction to a career pathway or job.

Hospitality may not be the right career path for those enrolled, but food is used as a foothold to initiate change, breaking down barriers and identifying productive ways forward. And for those who discover a passion for the kitchen, Boyle remains assured of the power of the industry to support people to do great things.

He adds: "It's about using food as a foothold. Hospitality is an industry where people can start with nothing and work their way up. There's a feeling of a family, jumping out of one section to help another. That camaraderie, that's everything these guys haven't got. It's just a really good environment to be in."

Not all of those enrolled will be ready for the workplace, but Boyle has seen how it can transform lives. "You see someone who's completely lost and excluded from society grab hold of their life and be part of a community. There's a ripple effect around them and, once you give people the right opportunity, suddenly everyone benefits – friends, family, key workers, the taxpayer. And what's the alternative? Either that or they end up not being alive, because that's pretty much what happens if you don't support someone, or they end up getting into the criminal system. It's not particularly because they're bad people, it's because they've got to make ends meet and that's a massive cost to society."

The scheme has already helped thousands of people and Boyle remains dedicated to the cause. He adds: "My focus is to find and support people who have unravelled. This is my life's work and I now wish to scale my experience and help even more people. I want to inspire others to take up that ambition to use the hospitality industry to create opportunities for vulnerable people, so they can stand on their own two feet, live a better life and have fantastic careers in our business."

Leon Seraphin, chef trainer

Seraphin was an apprentice himself, in 2004, before progressing his career and becoming a head chef in a professional kitchen. At Beyond Food he is responsible for all aspects of training the apprentices and delivering the Freshlife programme.

He says: "I wanted to give something back to where I had started.

"The programme is so rewarding – it's a job with purpose for me. It's satisfying to take someone on their first day when they might not be talking to anyone, to them being bubbly, jumping and excited. Some have not socialised with people – seeing changes each day is remarkable.

"Each group is totally different and we try to give all of them the same experience.

"I trained as an apprentice in Hoxton in 2004 and it gave me purpose. I had been long-term unemployed and it gave me a job for life. I started at the bottom and worked my way up and now I have a bright and successful career."

What those enrolled said

"It's incredible. The enthusiasm from day one has been really encouraging. There are so many different types of people and you are encouraged to get together and work as a team. It changes your outlook about things that make a difference to your life and your health. It gives you an opportunity, it makes you want to change things for the better and to know what you are looking for. The support there is just incredible. It's amazing what they are offering."

"I love working with food, it's like something that's therapy for me. Food makes memories for everyone"

Case study: Sid

Sid spent a winter sleeping rough in London. Often on the streets all night in freezing temperatures, he sometimes sheltered in a toilet in Kings College Hospital, locking himself in for safety while he tried to sleep.

Sid was born in Kensington but brought up in his parents' home country of Egypt. He returned to England at 24 and initially supported himself with a job in a hotel. Things were going well until Sid fell in with a dangerous group of friends and started using heroin and crack cocaine. The addiction overcame him. He lost his job, his flat and had no possessions and no family in the country.

Looking back, the now 31-year-old says: "If I'd have carried on living the way I was, I wouldn't have had very long to live – a few months maybe."

Outreach workers spotted Sid sleeping rough and offered him a place at homeless charity St Mungo's. In need of a new start, Sid went into rehab and enrolled on one of Beyond Food's first-ever programmes. The course saw Sid become one of the first trainees to work at a chocolate factory.

After 18 months of on-the job-training, confidence-building and learning new skills under Boyle and a team of mentors, Sid was able to start again. He found a job that paid well enough to support his new young family and his daughter was born at King's College hospital, just down the corridor from where Sid sheltered.

Sid is now an accomplished chef running a bed and breakfast and a proud husband and father.