From a Borough Market stall to nationwide baking classes; that’s the journey one beloved London bakery is about to take. None other than the beloved Bread Ahead bakery is about to launch an enormous national initiative to teach a million young people to bake – for FREE!
This May, on World Baking Day (May 17), Bread Ahead will launch The Future Bakers Project. It’s a brand new initiative with which the bakery is hoping to make baking accessible to young people everywhere. The free baking classes will also help participants build “life skills, confidence, and a real joy for baking along the way.”
The Future Bakers Project
Now, Bread Ahead is no stranger to teaching people how to bake. They operate a baking school with in-person and online courses. Participants can learn about doughnuts, pizza, sourdough, Japanese baking, bagels, Greek baking, and much more. They also operate a professional baking academy in the form of their Bread Ahead Academy. The 6-month programme is “designed to create the next generation of professional bakers”.
The Future Bakers Project sees them looking to the future to foster a love of baking within young people. Across the next 10 years, they hope to teach 1 million young people how to bake. The free workshops will help develop “confidence in the kitchen, creativity in how they think, and practical life skills they can carry into adulthood”.
Bread Ahead will launch The Future Bakers Project at Borough Market on May 17. They’ll be hosting a special event full of free workshops, live baking experiences, and more.
They hope to have taught 100,000 young people to bake by 2028. Looking forward into the future, they’re hoping the project will reach 500,000 new young bakers by 2032, expanding to 1,000,000 by 2036.
How to take part
Want to take part? Or know someone who might be interested? There are a number of ways to join in.
Bread Ahead will host free weekly children’s baking sessions at Bread Ahead Borough Market (on Mondays) and Wembley (on Tuesdays).
There will be a Future Bakers website with recipes, lessons, and baking resources.
And Bread Ahead will work with “schools, youth organisations, charities and cultural institutions across the UK and internationally.“
Said Bread Ahead founder, Matthew Jones:
“Back in 2013, it started with a single market stall in Borough Market and a simple belief – that baking brings people together. What has grown since is a community built around sharing real life skills, confidence and creativity with the next generation. The Future Bakers Project is about passing that on – opening the kitchen to young people everywhere and showing them what they are truly capable of. Because when you learn to bake, you don’t just learn recipes, you learn resilience, independence and joy. This is your kitchen, your moment – your chance to rise.”
Find out more about Bread Ahead here.
