ABST President - Sara Autton
I cannot quite believe that my year as ABST President is coming to a close already; it has been quite a whirlwind.
Firstly, I would like to make a few congratulations: to all of the Executive Committee who so generously devote their spare time to work for bakery students everywhere. These are people who all have full time jobs and busy lives outside their work, but still they seek to support the next generation of bakers as they begin or continue their training. Thank you so much for all that you do.
Congratulations too to all the students who entered competitions last year; not only at Conference but also the Maple Syrup competition. The standard of entries is always encouragingly high and is a testament to the hard work of your bakery tutors, lecturers and trainers. There is nothing more rewarding than watching the growth of skills and talent of new bakers with constant and careful training, and they are to be congratulated for their dedicated work and careful nurture of students as they continue with their bakery education.
I must also thank the previous Presidents, Ivor McKane and Neil Woods for their support and encouragement through the past year. I am indebted to them for their guidance and patience as I got to grips with my duties: theirs were hard acts to follow and I would never have managed without them.
I am very glad to be able to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all of those companies whose continual support underpins all that we seek to achieve within the ABST. Financial assistance is only a part of the support they provide: industry days, demonstrations and lectures, work experiences, educational experiences and industry visits are all equally valuable for widening the perspective of students. It takes many skills in a huge number of diverse disciplines to get a baked product into a customer’s basket and, like the ingredients in a carefully balanced recipe, each plays its part in the overall success. NPD, raw materials, processing, baking, packaging, quality control, marketing, logistics, distribution and retailing all function together; and it is important for students to understand this network and how it operates. Our industry supporters are invaluable for helping to provide this perspective – thank you so much.
One of the privileges of occupying the President’s chair is the opportunity to address issues that affect students in a wider context. I have been pleased to be able to lobby the Home Secretary about a proposed change to legislation which will make the possession and carrying of knives and sharp instruments in colleges and Universities a criminal offence. On the face of it, this is a sensible measure to try and combat knife crime, but I have written to the Home Secretary to point out that students of bakery, butchery and the culinary arts will be severely hampered in their education if their essential training in the use and maintenance of these vital tools is forbidden to them. We shall let you know of any response that arrives from the Home Office on this issue.
One further concern that we have been addressing on your behalf is to do with the development of, and arrangements for, apprenticeship training for those who prefer, or are better suited to, learning in the workplace. This is a very complex area of concern, and I have been glad to be able to speak on behalf of the ABST in this matter. There is a still a long way to go, but progress is being made.
You may have noticed that our most recent efforts have been applied to our handling of your personal data in accordance with the new regulations that came into force in March. I am sure that you have been swamped with requests to opt-in, opt-out, sign up or unsubscribe from websites that you may have visited in the past. However, the ABST must also make sure that we comply with the new regulations, so please make sure that you read our privacy policy and are happy about what we are doing with your details. This has not been an easy task and we have David Goddard and Chris Foxall to thank for guiding us through the red tape.
So now the time is coming for me to pass the chain on to my worthy successor, Jimmy Griffin. I wish him well for his year in office, and hope that he finds me as supportive to him as the previous Presidents have been to me. Good luck to everyone who has entered competitions this year: if you make the most of the advice available from the judges and learn something from the experience, then everyone will be a winner!
I look forward to seeing you at the Conference in Alton Towers.
Sara Autton
President, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees; 2017-2018
Firstly, I would like to make a few congratulations: to all of the Executive Committee who so generously devote their spare time to work for bakery students everywhere. These are people who all have full time jobs and busy lives outside their work, but still they seek to support the next generation of bakers as they begin or continue their training. Thank you so much for all that you do.
Congratulations too to all the students who entered competitions last year; not only at Conference but also the Maple Syrup competition. The standard of entries is always encouragingly high and is a testament to the hard work of your bakery tutors, lecturers and trainers. There is nothing more rewarding than watching the growth of skills and talent of new bakers with constant and careful training, and they are to be congratulated for their dedicated work and careful nurture of students as they continue with their bakery education.
I must also thank the previous Presidents, Ivor McKane and Neil Woods for their support and encouragement through the past year. I am indebted to them for their guidance and patience as I got to grips with my duties: theirs were hard acts to follow and I would never have managed without them.
I am very glad to be able to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all of those companies whose continual support underpins all that we seek to achieve within the ABST. Financial assistance is only a part of the support they provide: industry days, demonstrations and lectures, work experiences, educational experiences and industry visits are all equally valuable for widening the perspective of students. It takes many skills in a huge number of diverse disciplines to get a baked product into a customer’s basket and, like the ingredients in a carefully balanced recipe, each plays its part in the overall success. NPD, raw materials, processing, baking, packaging, quality control, marketing, logistics, distribution and retailing all function together; and it is important for students to understand this network and how it operates. Our industry supporters are invaluable for helping to provide this perspective – thank you so much.
One of the privileges of occupying the President’s chair is the opportunity to address issues that affect students in a wider context. I have been pleased to be able to lobby the Home Secretary about a proposed change to legislation which will make the possession and carrying of knives and sharp instruments in colleges and Universities a criminal offence. On the face of it, this is a sensible measure to try and combat knife crime, but I have written to the Home Secretary to point out that students of bakery, butchery and the culinary arts will be severely hampered in their education if their essential training in the use and maintenance of these vital tools is forbidden to them. We shall let you know of any response that arrives from the Home Office on this issue.
One further concern that we have been addressing on your behalf is to do with the development of, and arrangements for, apprenticeship training for those who prefer, or are better suited to, learning in the workplace. This is a very complex area of concern, and I have been glad to be able to speak on behalf of the ABST in this matter. There is a still a long way to go, but progress is being made.
You may have noticed that our most recent efforts have been applied to our handling of your personal data in accordance with the new regulations that came into force in March. I am sure that you have been swamped with requests to opt-in, opt-out, sign up or unsubscribe from websites that you may have visited in the past. However, the ABST must also make sure that we comply with the new regulations, so please make sure that you read our privacy policy and are happy about what we are doing with your details. This has not been an easy task and we have David Goddard and Chris Foxall to thank for guiding us through the red tape.
So now the time is coming for me to pass the chain on to my worthy successor, Jimmy Griffin. I wish him well for his year in office, and hope that he finds me as supportive to him as the previous Presidents have been to me. Good luck to everyone who has entered competitions this year: if you make the most of the advice available from the judges and learn something from the experience, then everyone will be a winner!
I look forward to seeing you at the Conference in Alton Towers.
Sara Autton
President, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees; 2017-2018
ABST Treasurer - Graham Turner
ABST finances remain within the targets set for the financial year to meet our agenda for student activities and our annual conference. This remains our most expensive financial cost and a huge commitment for us all. We are able to continue in expanding each year due to the dedicated work of the organising team and in securing contributions and support from our sponsors, without this we would be unable to continue. Sponsorship has been particularly challenging this year due to the many demands on industry and requests for support but this is essential to enable us to keep the cost of attending conference as low as possible.
Conference agenda cost commitments and receipts to date remain on track for another exciting event at Alton towers in June this year. We are constantly reviewing ways to improve the experience ABST has to offer and continue to include colleges, students and industry trainees in the organisation process to be able to plan a cost effective, relevant and motivational programme each year.
I trust all will enjoy what is again a very full, interesting, career supporting and well organised conference for you this year.
Graham Turner
Treasurer, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees
Conference agenda cost commitments and receipts to date remain on track for another exciting event at Alton towers in June this year. We are constantly reviewing ways to improve the experience ABST has to offer and continue to include colleges, students and industry trainees in the organisation process to be able to plan a cost effective, relevant and motivational programme each year.
I trust all will enjoy what is again a very full, interesting, career supporting and well organised conference for you this year.
Graham Turner
Treasurer, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees
ABST Communications Secretary - Christopher Foxall
This year, we wanted to focus on engaging students and also look at new ways we can communicate better to you all.
Members only access on our website
In order to ensure that our members have access to areas of our website that give additional value for money we introduced passwords where members can create their own membership passwords, and then access areas such as Hire Me. For the majority of student members, this has worked well and we have had no issues. Some students have reported issues creating an account, however all of these issues have been resolved, and many of them appear to have been due to our website being blocked at certain colleges.
Hire Me
Due to the many changes that have happened over the year, with GDPR being one of the most important ones, we have had to rethink our approach to Hire Me. We know that your data is important, so we changed the format of Hire Me to make your data even more secure. What this basically means is that employers contacting us, will not see your personal information as per the previous structure. Instead, we contact you directly with the employers details, and then it is your choice whether to get in touch with the employer or not. We believe that the Hire Me scheme can work to support you in finding jobs, placements and experience which is vital alongside your qualifications. For more information and to apply for Hire Me, please visit our website.
Social Media
As always, social media is constantly changing and the way that you our members want information reflects this. We have looked at other social media platforms, such as Snapchat, however we feel that due to the way this works, we are not able to use this particular platform very well. Our social media currently is Facebook, twitter and Instagram. These are our main ways of communicating to our members. Our Facebook Official page is updated regularly and we encourage our members to like and follow this page to ensure that they receive all updates and news from us. We also have our group page where we would encourage members to engage with each other through the network of the ABST.
The Bakers Bite Blog
This year, we started the Bakers Bite Blog. We have been using this to communicate important updates regarding conference. We have also asked our members to supply us with news and updates to update the blog so that you could share your stories with other members in the UK and Ireland. Unfortunately, only one college has supplied any information about fund raising which was used to start the blog. We will continue to use the blog to communicate news and updates, however we would also encourage members to talk to us about anything they are up to and would like to share. This is a great opportunity to show other members, and also industry what you have been doing and your skills.
GDPR
The ABST is committed to ensuring your personal information is safe. We have made changes to our Hire Me scheme to ensure that your personal information is kept secure. We have also reduced the amount of questions we ask new members, so we no longer hold as much personal information as previously. This was a major piece of work that was completed in a relatively short time, and I would like to thank Sara and David for their support and guidance.
Support
We have recently posted on Facebook the opportunity for current members to get more involved in the ABST. We have many roles in the ABST, which require a number of different skill sets. This is a great opportunity for members to develop new skills and improve current ones. We requested some support after conference last year. Any member that offers support will be gladly accepted and supported to learn new skills. There are many different roles you could get involved in, so please ask us at conference if this is of interest to you and you want to become more involved. Alternatively, get in touch via our social media.
Conference
Other than the Instagram boards and face masks, we wanted to also make conference even more memorable for members. So this year, we have decided to give you a memento to take away with you in the form of our conference t-shirt. We hope that you enjoy your conference t-shirt, and hope to continue this over the next few years, so those of you that attend more than once, will get a different t-shirt every year.
I would also like to thank the other members of the committee for all of the hard work and effort that goes into the running of the ABST, and to highlight that all committee members do this in their own time as volunteers. I believe, that although we have made progress in terms of communication since last conference, we will continue to look at further improvements ongoing. I hope that everyone enjoys conference and has a great experience. Don't forget to tag us in your pictures on Facebook, twitter and Instagram!
Christopher Foxall
Communications Secretary, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees
Members only access on our website
In order to ensure that our members have access to areas of our website that give additional value for money we introduced passwords where members can create their own membership passwords, and then access areas such as Hire Me. For the majority of student members, this has worked well and we have had no issues. Some students have reported issues creating an account, however all of these issues have been resolved, and many of them appear to have been due to our website being blocked at certain colleges.
Hire Me
Due to the many changes that have happened over the year, with GDPR being one of the most important ones, we have had to rethink our approach to Hire Me. We know that your data is important, so we changed the format of Hire Me to make your data even more secure. What this basically means is that employers contacting us, will not see your personal information as per the previous structure. Instead, we contact you directly with the employers details, and then it is your choice whether to get in touch with the employer or not. We believe that the Hire Me scheme can work to support you in finding jobs, placements and experience which is vital alongside your qualifications. For more information and to apply for Hire Me, please visit our website.
Social Media
As always, social media is constantly changing and the way that you our members want information reflects this. We have looked at other social media platforms, such as Snapchat, however we feel that due to the way this works, we are not able to use this particular platform very well. Our social media currently is Facebook, twitter and Instagram. These are our main ways of communicating to our members. Our Facebook Official page is updated regularly and we encourage our members to like and follow this page to ensure that they receive all updates and news from us. We also have our group page where we would encourage members to engage with each other through the network of the ABST.
The Bakers Bite Blog
This year, we started the Bakers Bite Blog. We have been using this to communicate important updates regarding conference. We have also asked our members to supply us with news and updates to update the blog so that you could share your stories with other members in the UK and Ireland. Unfortunately, only one college has supplied any information about fund raising which was used to start the blog. We will continue to use the blog to communicate news and updates, however we would also encourage members to talk to us about anything they are up to and would like to share. This is a great opportunity to show other members, and also industry what you have been doing and your skills.
GDPR
The ABST is committed to ensuring your personal information is safe. We have made changes to our Hire Me scheme to ensure that your personal information is kept secure. We have also reduced the amount of questions we ask new members, so we no longer hold as much personal information as previously. This was a major piece of work that was completed in a relatively short time, and I would like to thank Sara and David for their support and guidance.
Support
We have recently posted on Facebook the opportunity for current members to get more involved in the ABST. We have many roles in the ABST, which require a number of different skill sets. This is a great opportunity for members to develop new skills and improve current ones. We requested some support after conference last year. Any member that offers support will be gladly accepted and supported to learn new skills. There are many different roles you could get involved in, so please ask us at conference if this is of interest to you and you want to become more involved. Alternatively, get in touch via our social media.
Conference
Other than the Instagram boards and face masks, we wanted to also make conference even more memorable for members. So this year, we have decided to give you a memento to take away with you in the form of our conference t-shirt. We hope that you enjoy your conference t-shirt, and hope to continue this over the next few years, so those of you that attend more than once, will get a different t-shirt every year.
I would also like to thank the other members of the committee for all of the hard work and effort that goes into the running of the ABST, and to highlight that all committee members do this in their own time as volunteers. I believe, that although we have made progress in terms of communication since last conference, we will continue to look at further improvements ongoing. I hope that everyone enjoys conference and has a great experience. Don't forget to tag us in your pictures on Facebook, twitter and Instagram!
Christopher Foxall
Communications Secretary, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees
ABST COmpetition Secretary - Graham Duckworth
Post the 2017 conference the 2nd & 3rdplace certificates were despatched to the colleges within the normal 2 weeks and after sending our thanks out to all the judges and even more importantly the stewards who helped on the day then the whole process of getting things ready for 2018 started with a review of the feedback given at conference to help clarify some of the rules/products and try to standardise the prizes given throughout the competition classes.
As per the last conference the committee decided to centrally communicate with potential sponsors for the 2017-18 year. There was a delay in acquiring sponsorship (due to a large number of these request letters going missing) and this meant that sadly we did not have a sponsor in place for the February half innovation competition. We do hope to bring this back for 2019 and would be happy to hear from any sponsor who would like to be involved.
The competitions schedule was published just after the February Committee meeting and although numbers of entries are down (partly due to both Liverpool City College & Leeds not attending conference) we are glad to see entries from new colleges such as Cardiff & Vale College. Some of the sponsors have been heavily involved with their sponsored classes, so you will have seen the use of their mixes and ideas in the sections, however all the classes are fundamentally the same with either a fermented good, cake, both or innovation products to be made with the odd pastry item, sugar flower display, Easter egg or shortbread thrown in to ensure we try and cover all your learning areas.
I would like to thank all our sponsors for supporting us including newcomers the Biscuiteers. We could not do what we do without your generosity. We try very hard during the marking of the competition entries to be impartial (we have at least two judges marking each category and their results have to be agreed by the chairman of judges). We also try very hard not to make any mistakes, but as the marking is anonymous and we generally have over 3000 entry numbers to process sometimes we do make mistakes and I apologise in advance for this, as well as any spelling mistakes on certificates (your tutors/lecturers sent me the spellings). We try to sort these issues out as soon as possible after the conference but as we are all back at work, it can take us a couple of weeks, please let me know of any issues asap be patient.
Lastly I will not be running the competitions judging day next year as I will be preparing with my Scout Unit to go to the World Scout Jamboree. Although I will still be heavily involved before the day, I will be handing over the on the day admin to a new sub team of helpers, who I am very sure will find this year’s practice run an interesting experience.
Yours in baking
Graham Duckworth
Competitions Secretary, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees
As per the last conference the committee decided to centrally communicate with potential sponsors for the 2017-18 year. There was a delay in acquiring sponsorship (due to a large number of these request letters going missing) and this meant that sadly we did not have a sponsor in place for the February half innovation competition. We do hope to bring this back for 2019 and would be happy to hear from any sponsor who would like to be involved.
The competitions schedule was published just after the February Committee meeting and although numbers of entries are down (partly due to both Liverpool City College & Leeds not attending conference) we are glad to see entries from new colleges such as Cardiff & Vale College. Some of the sponsors have been heavily involved with their sponsored classes, so you will have seen the use of their mixes and ideas in the sections, however all the classes are fundamentally the same with either a fermented good, cake, both or innovation products to be made with the odd pastry item, sugar flower display, Easter egg or shortbread thrown in to ensure we try and cover all your learning areas.
I would like to thank all our sponsors for supporting us including newcomers the Biscuiteers. We could not do what we do without your generosity. We try very hard during the marking of the competition entries to be impartial (we have at least two judges marking each category and their results have to be agreed by the chairman of judges). We also try very hard not to make any mistakes, but as the marking is anonymous and we generally have over 3000 entry numbers to process sometimes we do make mistakes and I apologise in advance for this, as well as any spelling mistakes on certificates (your tutors/lecturers sent me the spellings). We try to sort these issues out as soon as possible after the conference but as we are all back at work, it can take us a couple of weeks, please let me know of any issues asap be patient.
Lastly I will not be running the competitions judging day next year as I will be preparing with my Scout Unit to go to the World Scout Jamboree. Although I will still be heavily involved before the day, I will be handing over the on the day admin to a new sub team of helpers, who I am very sure will find this year’s practice run an interesting experience.
Yours in baking
Graham Duckworth
Competitions Secretary, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees
ABST Membership Secretary - Sophie Barr
Total membership for this academic year September 2017- June 2018 is 230 student members Unfortunately this number is lower than last year due to a few colleges unable to attend this year’s conference. But overall the numbers are still good considering this year’s drop in colleges, we have a new arrival from Cardiff and Vale.
On a positive note next year should be extremely good for membership as we have 2 new colleges joining the ABST Newcastle and Glasgow. And with all our regular colleges renewing it should be the best year for membership. I’d like to thank the committee and colleges for their support over the last 3 years, while I have been Membership secretary. It has been a pleasure to be able to support the ABST, as my career and life has done nothing but change for the best since joining as a student member myself back in 2011.
I wish Becky Hole all the best taking over the role as membership secretary, as I’m sure she will do a fantastic job. Once again thank you to everyone for their support and I hope everyone attending the conference enjoys themselves and best of luck to all those entering the competitions.
Sophie Barr
Membership Secretary, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees
On a positive note next year should be extremely good for membership as we have 2 new colleges joining the ABST Newcastle and Glasgow. And with all our regular colleges renewing it should be the best year for membership. I’d like to thank the committee and colleges for their support over the last 3 years, while I have been Membership secretary. It has been a pleasure to be able to support the ABST, as my career and life has done nothing but change for the best since joining as a student member myself back in 2011.
I wish Becky Hole all the best taking over the role as membership secretary, as I’m sure she will do a fantastic job. Once again thank you to everyone for their support and I hope everyone attending the conference enjoys themselves and best of luck to all those entering the competitions.
Sophie Barr
Membership Secretary, Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees