Ben Chapman

2004 graduate of Fifteen 

By his mid teens Ben was a very successful drug dealer and car thief. With the tens of thousands of pounds his criminality brought him, he bought the best of everything (“new trainers every week”). But it cost him his family who did not want anything to do with the violent selfish criminal their son had become.

He was jailed at 18 for vehicle offences. Stuck in a cell with no family contact he decided he wanted to do something more positive with his life. He despised the man he saw himself becoming. Out of prison, he looked around for a start as a chef. It was his aunt who applied to Fifteen on his behalf.

“I found out on the day of my granddad’s funeral that I had an interview. There’s something out there for me was what I was thinking. You can be someone special.”

His larger than life personality made him a popular presence at Fifteen. But old habits die hard. One night during the college part of his apprenticeship, Ben stole a car to get home. He was stopped by the police and sent back to jail. He stayed in touch with Fifteen and was let back on the course.

“I couldn’t believe that they still believed in me. It’s like family. I learned a lot of discipline and how to keep my mouth shut. They taught me about all the anger I had in me. They put a light on inside me that I’d never had before”.

Ben did his work placement at Le Gavroche under Michel Roux. “He was great. He said to me ‘This is better than washing your socks and pants inside’. He even came to see me graduate. That meant such a lot to me.”

In 2004 he graduated with distinction but the happy ending everyone hoped for didn’t happen. His parents split up which devastated him. A job in a start up restaurant did not work out. The baby his girlfriend was carrying died and was stillborn. “That was the thing that hurt me most in the world”. He ended up doing piece work on building sites – “slogging my guts out every day.”

Despite his habit of “putting myself in traps”, he stayed in touch with Fifteen and jumped at the chance of a work trial. He got through his probationary period and is now working as a junior chef de partie at Fifteen London. “I love it working with the new trainees. I see me self there. I love sharing my passion and potential with them. I’m a million miles from where I thought I’d be.”