In response to the fantastic news about Northern Irish film 'An Irish Goodbye' receiving an Oscar nomination for the Best Short Film, students at Aurora Foxes have made their own short film, congratulating James Martin - the star himself!
Aurora Foxes, the Ofsted Outstanding specialist college in Somerset, is offering day provision from September 2022. Students have access to a variety of nationally recognised and accredited vocational and functional qualifications. Student timetables are 5 days per week and include teaching, study time and work experience.
Aurora Foxes has launched The Flying Fox food truck on the Minehead Promenade outside the Foxes Hotel. The truck gives Foxes' students the opportunity to cater for a variety of events, from food fairs to music festivals, boosting their skills and confidence while preparing them for employment in the hospitality industry.
Principal Emma Cobley MBE said the experience will "give our students the skills, knowledge and confidence to successfully shape their own futures."
The Flying Fox will welcome customers on the promenade three days a week throughout the summer term, serving a selection of paninis and rice boxes. Students will be running the truck, learning outdoor service skills including food preparation, hygiene and storage.
Students named the Flying Fox truck after the Flying Fox café, which was put in place during lockdowns, with menu ideas created by Foxes students, hotel chefs and Stuart Duff, Corporate Chef for the UK and Ireland, Hilton. The truck is funded by a £30,000 grant from the Hilton Global Foundation. Hilton has been a partner of Aurora Foxes since 2015 and has provided work placements for over 30 Foxes' students. They are set to offer a further number of placements later this year. Currently, seven Aurora Foxes graduates are employed in six of Hilton's hotels.
Foxes Hotel, part of The Aurora Group, trains young people with learning disabilities and today announced it has been recognized as a 2020 Travellers’ Choice award-winner for the third consecutive year, placing them in the top 10% of hospitality businesses around the globe. Based on a full year of Tripadvisor reviews, prior to any changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, award winners are known for consistently receiving great feedback.
Over the years Foxes Academy has transformed many lives through hospitality and catering training for young people with learning disabilities, leading to sustainable employment. Now in the face of COVID-19 the Hotel, formerly open to the public, has had to close. But this isn’t the end of the Foxes story. The staff and students are adapting to new ways of working as the situation evolves.
The mother of a Foxes Academy student and 2019 General Election candidate will be jumping out of a plane next week (21 March) to mark World Down Syndrome Day. Annabel Tall says she’s raising money for the Down’s Syndrome Association because the charity has helped her son Freddie, who has Down’s syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and is also deaf.
On Monday 3rd February, a spectacular event for over 100 guests took place at stunning Clevedon Hall near Bristol. The hospitality students of Foxes Academy teamed up with top chefs to highlight the benefits of employing young people with learning disabilities in the industry. The evening raised over £14k for The Springboard Charity, who help unemployed people of all abilities and backgrounds to get sustainable jobs in the Hospitality Industry.
Following an incredibly busy term staff, students and their families and friends gathered at The Regal Theatre to celebrate outstanding achievements and successes. During the term students had worked tirelessly serving over 600 guests booked in for Christmas functions at Foxes Hotel – double the number they had welcomed the previous year.
Back in November 2018 a group of students from Foxes Academy, a hospitality training hotel for young people with learning disabilities, attended a ‘Tourism Takeover Day’ hosted by Springboard South West. The event took place at the Headland Hotel & Spa, Newquay where Foxes’ students ran a workshop. Teams of young people competed to create the best ‘Foxy’ decorated cake in a 15 minute time slot. The teams were judged on their creativity, ability to problem-solve and work collaboratively. The Foxes students also took part in other workshops, one of which was run by the London Cocktail Club (LCC). At the end of the day LCC’s founder, JJ Goodman, gave an inspiring speech about working life in the hospitality sector.
Foxes Academy students recently visited two of the south west’s most renowned hotels. Saunton Sands is a smart 4* art deco hotel with over 90 rooms, it has a spa and sits atop the cliffs overlooking a stunning North Devon beach. Kentisbury Grange is a luxury 4* country hotel on the edge of Exmoor National Park, a stylish boutique manor house retreat with an award winning restaurant ‘The Coach House’ by Michael Caines. Visiting both venues in one day gave the students aspirations for their future careers. The very different settings enabled the young visitors to consider which environments are best suited to their skills and personalities within the world of work.
Presenter Sally Phillips visits Foxes Hotel as the U.K.’s only training hotel and college for students with learning disabilities. It’s a real hotel and that’s why it’s a success – just check out Trip Advisor says Sally.
