 Eleven-year-old entrepreneur Omari McQueen is the youngest award-winning vegan chef in the UK. In addition to being the founder of his own company, Dipalicious, he’s now CEO of a restaurant of the same name. The pop-up will take place at Boxpark Croydon this summer. While menu details have not yet been released, McQueen loves sharing vegan Caribbean food on his Instagram, such as BBQ jackfruit with breadfruit fries and curry. His company Dipalicious makes vegan dips inspired by Caribbean cuisine, such as Luv’in Jerk, Caribbean Kick, and Coco Curry. Vegan snacks will launch soon, according to the website. “I can’t believe my dreams are coming true,” McQueen wrote on Instagram earlier this month. How McQueen Became A Vegan Chef  McQueen learned about veganism from a PETA UK video at just eight-years-old and became determined to make food that could be enjoyed by all. He also wanted to teach other children about vegan food. One year prior, his parents ignited a passion for cooking in young McQueen, who was taught to cook after his mother fell ill.
While making vegan pizza on his YouTube channel, he found that the end result was too dry and, not knowing if Heinz was vegan, he made his first dip. It was a hit with friends and family, which inspired him to found Dipalicious. He began saving for his own bus-converted vegan restaurant as well as ready meals for kids. Today, he also hosts kids' cooking workshops from home. The young entrepreneur's accomplishments have already been recognized a number of times. In 2018, he won the TruLittle Hero Award for being the Entrepreneur Hero under 12 by Cause4Children Ltd. He won the Compassionate Kid Award from PETA for his work helping animals last November. “His compassion and his determination to create a better world for animals are a wonderful example for other kids – and adults – to follow,” said PETA director Elisa Allen in a statement. He also won the Proud & Gifted Award for his work as a vegan chef and youth empowerment speaker. Dipalicious’s vegan pop-up restaurant will take place at Boxpark Croydon from August 17-24. Source: Written by Kat Smith, Livekindly - 22nd July 2019  Martin Griffiths, consultant trauma surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, becomes the health service's first clinical director for violence reduction. Mr Griffiths helped set up a service for young patients injured through gang crime, providing support to victims while they are being treated on wards. The scheme has reduced the number of young people returning to the hospital with further injuries from 45% to less than 1% in six years, NHS England said. Mr Griffiths' new role will see him support other London hospitals to create ward-based services and develop new ways to tackle violence.  Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said this approach could be rolled out across the country in the future.
"Violent crime destroys lives and as a society we need to do far more to reduce violent crime," he said. "Martin's commitment to patients doesn't end when they leave hospital and his inspiring work at The Royal London, and in classrooms in the capital, has helped reduce the number of patients who recover only to return again with another gun or knife injury. "Martin's new role will help us do even more to break the cycle of violence and keep people - particularly young people - safe. "However, he is just one of many doctors, nurses and other NHS staff trying to stem the bloodshed at source by tackling gang violence across the country - and if this initiative works we would like to see it rolled out in all regions." Almost 5,000 people were admitted to hospital after being attacked by a knife or sharp object last year, up by nearly a third since 2012-13, NHS England said. Teenagers accounted for 1,012 admissions, a rise of 55% from six years ago. Mr Griffiths said: "Every day I see the wasted opportunities of young people stuck on hospital wards with life-changing injuries. We do everything we can for these patients but don't just want to patch them up and send them back out to be injured again. And by working together across the NHS there is more we can do to prevent these attacks happening in the first place." "I want to build a network that will empower communities across London to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that result in violence." Source : ITV News - 19/6/2019 A free exhibition called Before and After Windrush: 350 years of Black People in Lambeth is being held in Brixton to celebrate the presence of Black communities in the borough over the last 350 years.  Hosted at Lambeth Town Hall the show will feature the work of the photographer Harry Jacobs which provides an extraordinary visual record of the Black community in Brixton between the 1950s and the 1990s.
His distinctive studio portraits of families posed in front of an unchanging backdrop were to be found in houses across South London and back in the Caribbean. Over 500 of his photos are included in the exhibition, in a reconstruction of the walls of images that used to cover all the wall spaces of his studio in Landor Road. Despite the significance of the voyage of the Empire Windrush in 1948, there had already been many Black people living in Lambeth, and the second half of this exhibition explores the evidence for this earlier community to be found in Lambeth council’s historical archives. The content includes former slaves and servants who were being baptised in Lambeth parish church in the eighteenth century, African princes and sons of chiefs who were being educated in Clapham and the mysterious, unnamed ‘Black Woman of Brixton Causeway’ who was struggling to bring up her child in Lambeth in the 1720s. Before and After Windrush has been curated by Lambeth Archives as part of Lambeth Councils celebrations for national Windrush Day on June 22. Cllr Sonia Winifred, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Equalities & Culture, said: “We are proud to be able to draw on our rich and varied archives to put on this interesting and engaging exhibition. Multiculturalism and the history of our Black communities in Lambeth goes back much further than most people probably realise. “I am welcoming all our residents to come along to the town hall and take this opportunity to learn more about our collective history at the same time as enjoying some beautiful exhibits and photography.” Before and After Windrush: 350 years of Black People in Lambeth is showing at Lambeth Town Hall from June 5 to July 5 from Monday to Friday between 9am and 6pm. Source: Lambeth Council, 30 May 2019  Paul Wayne Gregory is part of the brand-new TV series the Extreme Chocolate Makers' on Channel 4. The series will run for two weeks at 5.30pm. Paul has over 20 years’ experience in the catering industry, starting out as a baker and then becoming a main kitchen chef but found his true love in the pastry section. He moved to Ireland to work in the Michelin star restaurant, Restaurant Peacock Alley and then headed the pastry section in all of Conrad Gallagher’s restaurants. Returning to England, Paul worked for the Searcy’s food service group where his plated dessert won the front cover of the cookery book ‘London on a Plate.’ This book was compiled of London’s newest and hottest rising chefs. With the desire to increase his knowledge, Paul moved to France to work with Mousier Jean Valentine, classmate of the legendary pastry chef Michel Roux. Here Paul worked in the pastry shop and followed the Grand Master in his style of classic patisserie; it was here Paul developed the love for working with chocolate and knew one day he would open his own chocolate business. With the desire and passion still burning and as Paul says, “I needed a finishing school”, he moved to Spain to work for world renowned pastry and chocolate master Oriol Balaguer, “And here I found myself." Back in England Paul had no intention of starting his business just yet, but with no job and no money, “I had just spent almost 2 years working for free, friends who had now become head chefs asked if I could make chocolates for them, so I started working from home creating chocolates at night and looking for a job in the day. 2 years later, I said to myself, well, I’m in business aren’t I”. He laughs. With no formal business skills, Paul under took a short business course which he says, “Being dyslexic, I could not make head or tail of it. Forecasts, projections etc - I’m a chef! But the one thing I knew from travelling and working in all those high end establishments is, quality sells itself.” “I took all of those skills and moved into an industrial unit, no investor, no money, it was a huge risk! But what I did have was a burning desire to show the world what I meant by "indulgence is everything" and at the end of the day, everyone has to start somewhere.” In less than 6 years, the desire and passion truly speaks for itself:
Greatest Personal Achievement “The Pure Indulgence Chocolate box. This took 5 years in the making; in 2006 we launched the range so now I could not change the flavours inside the box. In that year we won an Award of Excellence for the range. Now, every chocolate in the box has won an award individually: 8 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. the reason I say it’s an achievement is because it’s easy for me to compete 36 chocolates and put the winners in a box, but to bring out the box first and then compete each chocolate thereafter is a completely different story altogether - I do not think I will do this again it nearly killed me”!  Work Achievement
“It was great to win all the awards we have achieved and making chocolates for the Queens 80th birthday was a true honour. But I still think the working achievement has to be our clients. Our clients who have been with us from the start, I would like to thank them all for their loyalty and support, thank you all”. My Passion What I had was a burning desire to show the world what I meant by “indulgence is everything” and at the end of the day, everyone has to start somewhere. So, in less than 7 years, my desire and passion truly speak for themselves! My Art One of the most recognised talents that Paul has, is his ability to mould and manipulate chocolate to create artistic masterpieces. Paul has created custom chocolate art that mimics both the human form, machines, paintings and abstract art. Source: https://paulwaynegregory.com |
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