Chef Russ: What’s happened since…
Our 2024 Rising Star has been busy since he won his award last year. We caught up with him to find out more…
Chef Russ, what have you been up to since we last chatted to you? It’s been a while…
It’s been busy! I spoke at the Chefs In Schools conference, which was great, really rewarding. I wanted to put educating children about food and nutrition on the agenda. And I was asked to be an expert judge for the 2025 Good School Food Awards, which is a real honour. I’m so chuffed about that. I’m also really looking forward to meeting all the other experts, as well as the other 2024 winners, and finding out what people have been up to this year.
Has anything changed since winning?
I’ve had a lot of head teachers come and visit us. They see our working kitchen, sending our hot fresh food to the classrooms, me using local suppliers (butcher, a local veg man), no ultra-processed foods on the menu… And the first question all of them ask is: How do you do it on budget? The thing is, when you buy in ready-made school lunches, you know how much it costs, it gets delivered – the costs are sorted out, everything’s settled. But most of it goes in the bin!
How do you win them round?
It’s more trying to encourage them to understand that it’s worth making the investment in the school. Investing in kids’ health is investment in the future, investment in their energy, without sugar crashes. It’s a process that takes two or three years to fall into place – getting a kitchen, getting the right staff and the right suppliers – but after that you’ll see those costs really start to come down. Fresh food is always cheaper than anything you buy in. You need a head teacher who is determined to do it though, or it’s just not going to work. And when you consider how much they’re all doing at the moment, they understandably just want to click a button.
Because you’ve had to bring lots of people on your journey too, haven’t you?
Yeah. When I look back, a few parents were straight behind my idea of the kitchen, but I also had a lot of, ‘nah, it will never work’, ‘you’ll never do this for the cost’ and ‘my kids will never eat that’. But I took everything on board, and slowly those things turned around. Now the kids all sit down and learn table manners, and learn to socialise with their friends over dinner. This is where we build government, around the village table. Getting children to understand that at such an early age is really important. Kids don’t always get that at home.
Your prize was cooking live on morning TV – how was that?
I was so nervous, but I really enjoyed it. It was just lovely to meet Sara Cox. She’s a legend. The people who worked on the show made me feel really comfortable. I mean, the runners did all the cooking for me, basically, I just had to kind of stand there and say a few words! But it was special doing live TV for the first time. I think there were about 3 million people watching it!
And you’re up for another award, aren’t you?
Yes, the All Parliamentary Party award. My MP, Tom Hayes, is super supportive, so we applied and now I’m going up to Leeds. Hopefully we’ll come back with another award for the school. It’s so much a team effort – no kitchen ever revolves around one person. But it also goes further than the kitchen. Having the TAs and teachers sit with the kids and encourage them to eat – try this, try that, this is exciting, giving the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ about the food – is so important. They’re not gonna eat it unless they’re encouraged. So it’s really a team effort.
What’s next for you?
Breakfast club! I want to replace the sugary cereal cereals, the bagels with chocolate on, with something healthy. We make all the bread here for lunch, so I want to do it for breakfast too. We banned sweets this term, finally, which I’ve been trying to do for a long time. To get people behind it, I put out a little video on Instagram to try to explain that I’m not trying to tell anybody how to feed their children at home – we just don’t want them at school. We really don’t need them.
And you’re a celebrity at school now! The kids must love the fact you’re an award winner!
Don’t get me wrong, the children say what they think of me and what they think of the food! But no, it’s wonderful. I get a really nice reception every time I see any of the children. And that’s what I want to do here – become a part of the school. I make sure I speak to the kids, the teachers, the TAs, the headteacher. It would be easy to enter and exit the school via the back door, but then you wouldn’t know anyone. I get out into the community as well. We do the Christmas, Easter and Summer markets, where we set up a food stall. We also sell fresh bread at the school gate on Friday afternoons. And pizza kits too. I just want to keep that connection going.
What’s been the response from the parents since you’ve won?
They have been amazing. They’re so proud of the school. We’ve got over 70 kids on the school waiting list now, and that’s just for reception places. It’s made a massive difference. And with the governors too, they’re really amazed at what’s happened. It’s had a real impact within the whole community.
And are you still in the cupboard?
Yep, I’m still in the cupboard! But the community has really rallied round to help us. When I put up a little video about one of my pieces of equipment not working, someone contacted me and gave me a new one. And I’m about to get a 25kg dough mixer! The community really just wants to help out with what we’re doing here. They really want to support it, because it’s a fantastic thing we’re able to do here and there isn’t another school like it in the area. Although we’re hoping we can grow it.
What’s been the thing that’s made you really proud?
It’s been with our SEND children. They’ve been doing some cooking lessons with us, just getting them to touch and feel food. Some of them will only eat certain things and some wouldn’t even touch food, but I’ve seen such a change in them, it’s been incredible. Now they can’t wait to get their hands dirty and start baking and eating and trying new things. Honestly, that’s really been the most emotional thing. They’ll remember that for the rest of their lives. I think that’s what’s so special about school.
Since we interviewed Chef Russ, he found out that he won the All Parliamentary Party award! We asked him about it…
I was so happy to get this award – for myself and everyone at my school. It’s vindication that what we’re doing in our kitchen actually works and is being recognised by the people who are able to influence decision-making. People that can push the likes of free school meals and funding for after-school clubs. I had the privilege of chatting with Sharon Hodgson MP, who has promoted the benefits of school food over the last 20 years or so. She’s invited me to the next APPG meeting in parliament to discuss what we do at Pokey Kitchen. This is such a big opportunity for me to give my opinions on how we can push back against the seemingly relentless attack on our children’s health, where diet is concerned. How schools can operate their own kitchen without relying on profit making companies, sending our children junk for lunch.
You can follow Chef Russ on his Instagram @pokey_kitchen