Barbara Curtis Training Room Opens at The School of Artisan Food

On Wednesday 9th February 2022, the Barbara Curtis Training Room was officially opened by the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Sir John Peace.

The School of Artisan Food has been lucky enough to have been the beneficiary of a donation left by Miss Barbara Curtis, a member of the distinguished family of butchers and bakers AW Curtis and Sons Ltd, now known as Curtis of Lincoln.

Miss Curtis, who worked for the family firm all her life, made the bequest to The School of Artisan Food for a new, purpose-built training room to be built, as she wanted to encourage the development of education in artisan food skills.

During the opening ceremony, Mr Neil Curtis, the nephew of Miss Barbara Curtis, unveiled the plaque to his aunt, along with Nick Hatton the Chair of Trustees, and Alison Swan Parente MBE, Founder of The School of Artisan Food.

This generous bequest allowed The School of Artisan Food to build, with additional money from the European LEADER fund and equipment costs paid for by Tarmac Lafarge, a magnificent new training room in the old stable buildings on the Welbeck estate already occupied by the School.

Purpose-built for training in butchery, cheese-making, bread-making, and patisserie, it has already been used to teach local community members and students from far and wide to participate in the Advanced Diploma in Artisan Baking and Nottingham Trent University’s FdSc in Artisan Food Production. The Barbara Curtis Charitable Trust also contributes bursaries and prizes to students.

As the pandemic shows signs of abating, The School of Artisan Food is going from strength to strength. In addition to the courses above, it has recently introduced specialist CPD (continuing professional development) courses and obtained funding for an exciting program working with local schools and health centres to promote healthy eating.

Alison Swan-Parente MBE DL (Founder) commented:

"The School of Artisan Food has been the very fortunate beneficiary of the estate of the late Miss Barbara Curtis who came from distinguished family butchers and bakers in Lincoln. Her wish was to help young people to learn how to make good food from scratch, and the school can provide a place for that wish to come true. The Barbara Curtis Charitable Trust has funded a magnificent new training room at The School of Artisan Food which will be used by a new generation of artisan food makers. Miss Curtis will be remembered in magnificent plaque inscribed by master calligrapher Phil Surey and unveiled by Sir John Peace, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire.”