New pub restaurant gives a fresh start to disadvantaged youngsters

The Dog Inn at Belthorn, in Lancashire, which has been a community freehouse since December 2015, is opening its brand-new restaurant this weekend (Saturday 17 June). Five young people aged between 20 and 24 will help run the restaurant’s kitchen and front-of-house service.

The restaurant has recruited the five youngsters with the help of local social enterprise project Eat Pennines. The organisation, aims to train and employ young people aged 16 to 24 to get the skills and experience to land a career in the food sector.

Work and training

Since opening in October 2011, the organisation has supported more than 100 unemployed and disadvantaged young people.

Each of the five trainees at the Dog Inn had previously struggled to find work for a variety of reasons, but will now be working and training in the kitchen with the restaurant’s chef Tom Reddy, or front of house.

Kathryn Sharpe, from the Dog Inn Community Group, said the pub hoped to provide “an exciting fresh start” for the youngsters.

'A rewarding opportunity'

She said: “We are thrilled to be beginning another new chapter for the Dog Inn with the opening of the restaurant this weekend – a result of lots of tireless work by the volunteers.

“This is a great project and it is a privilege to work alongside the team at Eat Pennines. We hope that this provides an exciting fresh start for our young team.”

Eat Pennines’ echoed Sharpe's comments, and said the venture was “a challenging and rewarding opportunity”.

The Dog Inn opens for public reservations this Saturday (17 June).