Supporting Lily’s Social Kitchen
As a Produced in Kent member, Oak Creative were first introduced to Lily’s Social Kitchen when they provided exquisite catering at a members networking event. As a team of avid foodies, we were touched by their mission and their inclusive approach to the hospitality industry.
Lily’s Social Kitchen is a Community Interest Company (CIC). Their goal is to bring people together using the power of food. To do this, they offer employment and work experience to people from diverse backgrounds, including individuals struggling with their mental health, with a learning disability or who may be adjusting to life after prison or homelessness. The business was launched with the goal of creating opportunities for people from all walks of life to access work and training.
This Summer, Oak Creative have been working with Lily’s Social Kitchen to provide design agency work experience to Lewis. After starting an internship in September 2022 working in cafes and production kitchens, Lewis quickly moved on to working on marketing materials for Lily’s. To help him pursue his interest, Lily’s reached out to the Produced in Kent community to see if there would be an opportunity to develop his interest further.
Lewis came to Oak Creative with the idea of producing a series of illustrations for a new sales brochure. Our Art Director Jasper has been leading support on this project, guiding him through the digital illustration and into pagination process. Lewis has also formed a brand guide for Lily’s Social Kitchen. This is ahead of a rebrand and in preparation to launch a new website. It’s so important that all brands have a guide to inform future designs and a great task for Lewis to be involved in at the onset of his career.
Jasper says: “Working with Lewis has been a delightful experience, witnessing his continuous growth and development over the months. His innate talent for grasping the intricacies of creative software is impressive. Lewis not only demonstrated a remarkable ability to understand and utilise creative tools but also exhibited the capacity to take a burgeoning branding style and elevate it into a collection of polished and professional collateral.”
Jenni from the Oak team also gave Lewis an introduction to AI tools for the workplace. As a Holiday Extras Trailblazer (pioneering AI for the business), Jenni was well placed to explain to Lewis how these tools can be used to guide design processes.
Oak Creative were proud to attend and support the Lily’s Social Kitchen awards ceremony in September this year – recognising the community which supports the organisation. It was a great evening and highlighted the impact and importance of what the Lily’s community has achieved. Lewis won an award for completing a wide range of workplace certificates and also for completing a workplace induction programme.
Lily’s Social Kitchen founder Zoe Rodda says, ‘Lewis has worked so hard throughout his internship programme. He is a great example of how food is the vehicle on how we deliver our projects and that not all our trainees wish to work directly in hospitality.’
