Supporting information on Charita Jones
Charita Jones and her team have been very busy over the past year getting well and truly involved in the community and at the same time continuing to build the restaurant. As a business they continue to have many of the same financial problems, but have learnt more and advanced the business forward more in this one year than in all the years that they have been opened.
Charita has become an active member in business groups, such as the Brighton Rotary club and Hub 100, which has worked with them and offered professional advice and guidance. They have continued to grow their business with very little financial help by working closely with an independent consultant, their accountant and a business coach who have helped them to focus and take fewer uncalculated risks.
Momma Cherri’s is more than just a restaurant, it is a community based restaurant that believes in offering support and getting involved within the county of Sussex, England and indeed the world. Charita Jones’s passion is working with young people and making sure she is available to get stuck in and not just be looked upon as someone who has made it on the back of a television show.
Listed below are a few of the events that Charita has been directly involved in since Sept. 06
* Stamford School Y5 – teaching music workshops,
* Young Carers –hosted a meal at the restaurant for five families & cooking demo
* Work experience at restaurant for 5 students already and 3 of those we have employed
* Young Enterprise awards - judges panel
* University of Sussex - Bee Purple Young Enterprise event -
informing young people about the ups and downs of running an
innovative business. Dinner & presentation at the restaurant
* Falmer School - opening of the new catering community kitchen (06) to prepare young people for entry in to industry through running vocational courses. Follow up event to celebrate one year (07) anniversary & provision of funders & governors dinner.
* Ratton School in Eastbourne - guest speaker at prize giving awards ceremony and was honoured to present the Momma Cherri achievement cup to recognise individuals for outstanding achievements
* University of Brighton - event in Eastbourne, sitting on the judging panel for the validation of masters degree in culinary arts
* Member of the Brighton Rotary Club supporting local groups and charities
* Soundmakers patron, putting music back into our primary schools, hosting an event in Sept. at restaurant to raise money and public awareness of project
* Stepping Stones - patron for this bereavement counselling charity to support children and young people through the grieving process
* Whitehawk Primary School - provision of support & workshops to promote & launch the community kitchen, encouraging parents & children in the community to learn to cook healthy food
* Brighton & Hove City Council School Meals - 'celebrity' support to the campaign to encourage a greater uptake for school meals in the county. Provision of new momma cherri recipes to inject interest in the menu & provide healthy, fun food for children during the school week
* involved in supporting Fostering and social services community programme –
* Southwark Catering College - patron - gave inspirational talk and opened a café which was run by a class of young people and adults who were returning to school to learn about catering.
* The Bridge Community Education Centre - provision of support for fundraising activities. Future teaching & workshop provision to
encourage healthy eating within the community, especially within the BME cooking groups to encourage cross-cultural communication
and education of different cultural backgrounds
* Reactors Black theatre project-offering support and free space with restaurant for meetings and local community groups in music and the performing arts
* BME Business Network - encouraging people of all ages from an ethinic minority background to start innovative and creative businesses. Support provided through the group to support individuals and ensure sustainability.
* Brighton Festival Fringe - one of the main sponsors of the Fringe
this year, supporting community events educating people about the
history of soul food
* Kids cooking workshops - provision of cooking workshops for young people to learn how to cook soul food and healthy food on a budget for their families
Charita Jones has worked very hard to put her restaurant and Brighton on the world map. She has recently written a soul food cook book and has as a result been touring the country promoting the book and speading the good word about Brighton. Over the past year Charita has had over
* 15 national and international television appearances
* 20 national and local radio interviews
* 15+ local and national press coverage
* 27+ community based events
* 15 + specialist outside catering events
* book signing events in England, Scotland, and off to Ireland in Sept.
* worked with a variety of Brighton based film companies
* become a member of the Brighton Rotary club, speaking at various clubs across the country
* voted Entrepreneur of the year at the Sussex business awards 2006-07
* invited to become a member of the RSA, Royal Society of Arts
* and closest to her heart, been asked to become a patron of Soundmakers, a Brighton based group, formed to get musical intruments back into our primary schools.
* also Charita is working with Brighton council and Solerest to help further develop healthy school meals. These recipes have been tested by local school children and given the thumbs up.