The catering kitchen in William Simpsons may be busy but unusually for a commercial kitchen, it is a place of calm camaraderie and when you pass by you'll hear singing rather than shouting! There are no Gordon Ramseys in our team!

Let us introduce the four fine food-loving creators in our kitchen. First up we have our Chefs, Lora and William:

Lora Sweeting	William Tait

Lora has always held a passion for cooking and she completed four years of catering college before honing her catering skills in restaurant kitchens, cafe kitchens and professional catering teams.  Always one to rise to a challenge, Lora enjoys the time-sensitive demands which come along with catering in professional kitchens.  

A lover of outdoor pursuits, Lora enjoys adventure training and is an avid hill walker.  Lora's personal favourite dish to cook is a luscious lasagne but fish is her least favourite thing to cook! 

William's interest in cookery began back in his school days where he learned the basic cookery skills before taking up professional cookery with the Forces and Royal Navy.  Having spent time working in restaurant and care home kitchens, William took up post as the head chef within a private school for a number of years before moving into the charitable sector where he worked as an operations manager, eventually resuming his original passion for cookery and joining our team.

Football is William's greatest passion and he is a life long supporter of Rangers but when he's not enjoying the beautiful game, William enjoys catching up with friends and family.  There's no particular meal which he likes or dislikes creating but he does relish the challenge of preparing a challenging and intricate dish!

Next up we have our two invaluable Kitchen Porters, Sam Cuthbertson and Robert Smith:

Sam Cuthbertson	Robert Smith

Sam is an avid reader who loves anything to do with history but when he's not time travelling with his nose in a book, you'll find Sam enjoying sci-fi such as Star Wars and Star Trek.  After completing his course at catering college, Sam worked within a theatre kitchen, which was a little different as he got to meet the cast and crews from the productions he catered for, before moving into restaurant kitchens and  finding his proper place within our Home.

Barbecue spare ribs is Sam's all time favourite dish to make and eat.  He cannot abide mushrooms but being the professional he is, Sam would happily whip up a mushroom risotto to fulfil a resident's request.

Robert is an outdoors man who loves cycling, fishing and is an avid gardener with his own thriving kitchen garden at home!  When he's not out and about, you'll find Robert relaxing with a good biography or delving deep into a factual information book.  During his career, Robert has worked in maintenance and janitorial services before changing his focus to the more fast paced life within hotel and restaurant kitchens and from there, becoming a valued member of our catering team.

At home, Robert can often be found whipping up his favourite  meal of Spanish omelette and he's a dab hand at pancakes and soup too. Boiled eggs are Robert's least favourite thing but he'll not let this stand in the way of preparing a delicious dinner for residents!

The team came to William Simpsons through different avenues, via word of mouth referrals from staff working at the Home, recruitment adverts and the 'match-making' expertise of job centre staff but they all agree that William Simpsons is somewhere special to work.  Without a doubt, it is the residents who make their roles so special and the whole team makes a point of catching up regularly with the residents to chat about their day and find out their views on the day's meals.  Staff integration was also raised as another positive element which makes the Home such a great place to work, everyone pulls together, communicates and works together to achieve the best outcome for residents every day. 

"There's such a good feel about the place and the people are so nice that it's just a great place to work and we have a lot of fun along the way!"

Now you've met the staff who make up our catering team, call by for a chat next time you're passing, there's always a warm welcome awaiting you in our kitchen!