After six weeks of paid training in the kitchen of HELL Grey Lynn, local youths John Muroso and James Key have graduated from HELL Pizza’s ‘Active in HELL’ programme – a scheme to support youths with intellectual disabilities and enhance their job prospects.
Active in HELL was launched in 2013 as a joint initiative between HELL and IHC’s IDEA Services. A total of 116 youths have been paid to train in a HELL kitchen since the programme began.
24-year-olds John and James are the sixth and seventh trainees respectively to complete their training at the Grey Lynn store, overseen by owner Marty Richards.
“Active in HELL is about giving these young people a chance in a commercial kitchen and exposing them to skills relevant for hospitality roles while getting paid,” said HELL general manager Ben Cumming. “It’s great to see trainees who, having been given the opportunity, have proven themselves able to be valuable members of the workforce.”
Muroso said he relished the opportunity to learn new skills and has aspirations of becoming a chef.
“I had a great time working at HELL Pizza and learnt how to oil pans, work with dough and make pizzas. Everyone was very supportive and I enjoyed working with all of the other staff.”
Key dreams of becoming a professional soccer player. He said his favourite thing about training at HELL was making his pizza at the end of the day.
“Working at HELL taught me a lot about the importance of listening and following instructions carefully. I enjoyed following the processes and being a part of the team.”
The paid training is tailored to each participant and covers everything from mandatory health and safety education to preparing food for sale. While the offer of a full-time role at the end of the training is not a stated goal of the programme, so far seven AIH graduates have been permanent employment with HELL.
