Fiona Hamilton-Fairley

Fiona Hamilton-Fairley MBE (born 1963)[1][2] is the founder and CEO of The Kids' Cookery School in Acton, West London.[3] She founded the cookery school for children in 1995 and she has authored three books. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2019.

Fiona Hamilton-Fairley
Born1963
England
Children3
Culinary career
Cooking styleChildren's cooking

Career

After completing a Cordon Bleu course, Hamilton-Fairley worked as a chef, and founded and managed her own catering company, Corporate Catering Company.[4] Hamilton-Fairley's vocation for teaching cookery was sparked in 1987 when she began to teach adults how to cook in a number of adult educational centres in London boroughs.

The Kids' Cookery School

Hamilton-Fairley founded The Kids' Cookery School (KCS) in 1995, raising funds to build the purpose-built teaching kitchens in Acton, West London.[4] Children aged 3-16 years old attend for practical cookery lessons, where they learn to cook healthy food from fresh ingredients.[4] Almost 13, 000 children a year are taught at The Kids' Cookery School. The goal of the school is to teach children healthy choices and teach them valuable life skills.[4] Hamilton-Fairley learned that a majority of parents believed teaching children cooking skills is important, however very few actually have the time to teach their own children.[5]

KCS offers assisted places and includes children who are disengaged with or excluded from education, or who have disabilities or special needs.[4][6] The main focus is on savoury food that children will eat,[7][8] with instruction in safety[4] and familiarity with raw ingredients.[7]

In 2009, Hamilton-Fairley's Kids' Cookery School started 'KCS on wheels'. Experienced chefs are sent to communities to bring cooking to children who otherwise might not experience the school.[1]

In 2018, Hamilton-Fairley continued to advocate for children learning to cook. She has said that for two decades children were not taught to cook is schools and now they are a generation that lives on junk food.[9] Hamilton-Fairley has been called a children's cooking expert.[10]

Funding

The school is a registered charity and relies on donations from charitable trusts, companies, individuals and government.[11][12]

Awards
  • 2002 - The Guardian Charity Award [6]
  • 2015 - The Halifax Giving Extra Award [13]
  • 2019 - MBE "for services to Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities".[14][15]

Books
  • I Can’t Cook (1993) By Fiona Hamilton-Fairley, Bloomsbury Press ISBN 9780747513995 Hardcover (United Kingdom) 24 June 1993; ISBN 9780747514008 Paperback (United Kingdom) 26 August 1994 [16][17]
  • I Can’t Cook: Entertaining (1995) By Fiona Hamilton-Fairley, Bloomsbury Press ISBN 9780747522997 Hardcover (United Kingdom) 24 August 1995
  • The Kids' Cook Book (2005) By Fiona Hamilton-Fairley, Self-published
  • Little Cooks: 30 Delicious Recipes to Make and Enjoy (1 April 2008) By Fiona Hamilton-Fairley, New Holland Publishers ISBN 978-1845379841 [18]

References
  1. Hamilton-Fairley, Fiona. "How to Get Your Kids into Cooking". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. Battersby, Kate (27 March 2004). "Big rewards for little chefs". Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  3. Knox Merrill, Mary (20 March 2007). "At this school, the food is part of the curriculum". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  4. Gould, Kevin; Karmel, Annabel (31 August 2002). "We can all go to work on an egg". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  5. "Giving your kids a taste for cookery is teaching a skill for life". Belfast Telegraph. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. Ramrayka, Liza (16 October 2002). "Central eating. Kids' Cookery School, west London". The Guardian. London, England. pp. GS15-16. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  7. Boseley, Sarah (19 November 1996). "Let loose on veg". The Guardian. London, England. pp. GE 4–5. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  8. "Can't cook, will learn to cook". The Times. London, England. 3 July 2004. p. 11.
  9. DAVIS, ANNA. "Ready, steady... learn to cook! Appeal families get pop-up class". Evening Standard. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  10. "Despite the Nation's Obsession with TV Cooking Programmes, Only a Third of Families are Cooking Together Every Month". wallstreet-online. wallstreet:online AG. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  11. "Kids' cookery classes". deliciousmagazine. DELICIOUS MAGAZINE. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  12. "Charity accuses lottery fund of confused priorities". The Guardian. Guardian News. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  13. Bazaraa, Danya. "Children's cookery school founder awarded for going 'above and beyond'". mylondon.news. My London (Reach plc subsidiary). Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  14. "Order of the British Empire". The London Gazette. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  15. Hughs, David. "Queen's birthday honours list 2019: full list of everyone being recognised this year". iNews. JPIMedia Ltd.
  16. Tennant, Jane (10 October 1993). "Taking it easy". The Sun-Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. p. 132. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  17. "The non-cook's delight". Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette. 9 September 1994. p. 27. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  18. Blackburn, Maria (16 July 2008). "Teaching young kids to cook by the book". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland, US. p. F5. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
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