Young Chef

Encouraging young people to cook

Whether you’re keen on a culinary career or just an enthusiastic home cook, this competition is a fantastic opportunity.

Entrants must be between the ages of 11 – 17 (as of 31st August 2025).

The winner of the Rotary Young Chef National Final will receive a prize of a two-day trip to Tuscany, which includes cookery classes to learn the secrets of regional Italian cooking.

The Rotary Young Chef Competition is a well-established and successful competition organised and promoted by Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (RotaryGBI), and generously sponsored by Filippo Berio. Rotary in Cumbria and Lancashire has had two national winners in the past four years both enjoying Italian restaurant experiences as part of their prize.

The Competition aims to encourage young people to:

Learn how to cook a healthy and nutritious main course and dessert
Develop food presentation and plating skills
Understand and apply food hygiene principles
Develop organisational and planning skills
Gain confidence in managing time and pressure in a demanding situation.

The Competition is open to all schools and college communities and those who are home educated, along with any other young peoples’ community organisations, for example, community RotaKids, community Interact, Scout Groups, Girl Guides etc. Students in part-time (day release) education are not eligible to participate. See the qualifying critieria for full conditions.

The ‘Task’ is to prepare in 2 hours, a two course healthy meal comprising main course and dessert for 2 people at a cost of up to £18 which is also funded by sponsoring Rotary Clubs. A reminder that there is a £15.00 entry fee per competitor into the District Final.

Key dates

Dec 2025 : Clubs hold heats to identify District Finalists
10th Jan 2026 (TBC) : Date by which all Entries must be forwarded to the District Organiser/s
26th Feb 2026 : Cumbria and Lancashire District Final, Windermere, Cumbria
21st March 2026 : Young Chef Competition Northern England Final to be held in Carlisle,
25th April 2026: Rotary GB&I Grand Final Venue TBA

For further details contact your local Rotary Club or Rotary Youth Lead in Cumbria & Lancashire Anthony Chick using the Contact Form below.

Rotary Clubs can download Information Packs, posters and logos by logging into the RotaryGBI website using their personal My Rotary account.