Waterlooville college pupils welcome elderly care home residents for lunch and a manicure

More than 25 elderly people visited Havant and South Downs College in Waterlooville on Monday as learners showed off their skills in celebration of National Apprenticeship Week.

From 10.30am beauty therapy students painted visitors' nails, before aspiring chefs cooked them a meal using food rendered surplus by supermarkets in a bid to cut down on waste.

Hermione Pipon, from Abbotts Barton Care Home in Winchester, said the day was ‘rather exciting’.

‘The food has been very nice and it’s nice to be here with my friends and residents from other homes,' the 90-year-old said.

Before lunch was served just after midday, Margaret Fry, from Belmont Castle Care Home in Havant, sat down for a manicure with 17-year-old pupil Kasey Cripps.

It was a trip down memory lane for her – marking her return to the college where she used to work decades ago.

The 98-year-old said: ‘My job was to teach the secretaries how to do their jobs properly.

Donna Wilmshurst, director of curriculum at Havant and South Downs College and deputy principal, Richard Barlow, serve food to Joyce Mountain, 89 and Margaret Greasley, 77. Picture: Habibur Rahman

‘It’s so utterly different here now and the whole atmosphere is not what I knew.

‘But it’s lovely, and it’s been very pleasant to sit down and be pampered.’

Instead of being thrown away by Hampshire supermarkets, food prepared for visitors by the college’s young chefs was acquired by UK hunger-tackling charity FareShare.

Community coordinator Sammy Swain, 26, said: ‘We rescue food for various reasons. It can range from shops over-ordering, spelling mistakes on packaging, wonky fruit and veg to farmers over-supplying.

Margaret Fry, 98, gets her nails done by Havant and South Downs College pupil Kasey Cripps, 17. Picture: Habibur Rahman

‘It’s extremely important all this food isn't wasted so it’s great to be here to watch it be served today.’

George Huxtable, who is studying the college’s commis chef apprenticeship in partnership with pub chain Fuller's, said it was ‘a real pleasure’ to cook for the residents.

‘It’s great to get the chance to put some good food in front of them and I hope they’ve enjoyed it,' the 17-year-old from Portsmouth said.

On his course so far, he added: ‘I get money while I’m learning, so it's brilliant – an apprenticeship is definitely the best fit for me.’