Apprentice chef, Oscar Balgobin, found the career he loves thanks to a happy accident.

Oscar is now a chef at Lilian Faithfull Care's care home in Stroud.

Whilst doing an IT course at college, he took a part-time job in a kitchen doing pot wash and enjoyed it.

He decided to develop his interest in catering and went on to get a position as apprentice chef in a hotel restaurant. Then the pandemic struck.

Oscar Balgobin said: "I heard the news of the lockdown on the radio and knew the restaurant would shut. We cleaned everything down and that was it."

That was when Oscar went to help out at Lilian Faithfull Care's Resthaven care home in Stroud, and he has stayed ever since, with no regrets.

He said: "I'm glad it happened. It's a lot better here. I didn't realise that care home cooking was like this to be honest.

"They never tell you about these places at school or college. I thought it would all just be frozen food. I was really surprised everything was fresh - I didn't expect that at all. The quality is just as good as restaurants.

"I enjoy the hours. It's a lot slower pace than in restaurants, when you are constantly going 100 miles an hour. I was working ridiculous hours at the restaurant, doing 12-11pm. Whereas here I work 7am-3pm or 10am-6pm and get every other weekend off."

Oscar restarted his apprenticeship in Level 2 NVQ in food preparation at Resthaven care home, with HIT Training, an apprenticeship provider for the UK's hospitality and catering industry.

As part of the course, he spent time in the kitchens of three Lilian Faithfull Care homes

Part of the chef's training at Lilian Faithfull Care involves learning the techniques needed to prepare meals for residents who have swallowing difficulties. Oscar now makes the individual purees and then pipes them to recreate the dishes on the menu.

He said: "When I first did it, I was surprised what you can do with it, when you are taught properly how to pipe it."

Oscar was able to complete the majority of his apprenticeship within his normal working hours, which made it manageable.

Over the course, he passed the two theory exams and put in plenty of preparation for his practical exams, which included creating a main course and dessert from scratch in two hours,

Just before Christmas, Oscar passed his practical exams. He is now a chef at Resthaven home and his first job in the role was cooking Christmas lunch for around 50 people. The residents and staff said he did a fantastic job!