Top chefs from across East Anglia gathered at the ICE Cookschool and Development Kitchen on Wednesday for an upskilling day as part of the Passion to Inspire competition.

Passion to Inspire is an annual initiative run by Murray Chapman, which seeks to get colleges and local chefs working together to upskill and inspire talented young chefs at the start of their career.  The competition sees students from colleges across the region pitted against each other in a series of challenges and competitions as well as valuable training days.  

Colleges taking part in this years competition include West Suffolk College, Cambridge Regional College, Norwich City College, Colchester Institute, College of West Anglia and Redbridge College and each college submits a team of three - two chefs and a front of house.  Every team is supported by a lecturer and is allocated a well-known and experienced local chef as a Mentor.  The team from West Suffolk College is supported by Lee Cooper from The Ickworth.

Wednesday's event was a full day of focused workshops by respected regional Chefs and key local produce suppliers and included interactive expert sessions on wine tasting, seasoning, butchery and cheese amongst other things.

Murray Chapman, Founder of Passion to Inspire said:  "Wednesday was a great event with nearly 60 people, all passionate about the industry, engaged and interacting.  The young chefs were keen to learn and, for those of us who have been around a bit longer, it is a joy to be able to invest in chefs of the future and share some of our experience."

John Jackaman, Chef, founder and Managing Director of ICE who hosted the event added:  "We have been involved with this awesome initiative since the start and are very proud of that connection - we feel passionately about sharing experiences and helping young chefs on their