Graduating from the School Of Social Entrepreneurs in 2015 Giovanni Ranallo helped put the Ryecroft Community Hub on the map with is unque social twist on an Italian restaurant , Gio’s Italian.
His long wooden dining tables where you could dine in an unrushed environment with healthy, well priced, good portions and tasty dishes soon put the peoples style restaurant in number one on Trip Advisor.
However it was not just the food and quirky environment that customers loved it was the ethos. The social purpose restaurant was happy to put back into the community in which it operated.
Gio was keen to formalise the social contract so working with several other socially minded invidivuals he founded Taste For Life CIC. A grassroots based social enterprise developing social impact orientated projects to support and encourage opportunities by delivering well being services. In that time Taste for life under Giovanni’s guidance has supported initiaves including health, wellness, nutrition and fitness. Often related around his first love of social interaction and food always around care in the community.
During the Covid 19 lockdown Taste for Life adapted into a foodbank distributing food to the most vulnerable and then subsequently offered a befriending initiative to the elderly. Satisfying the need to maintain standards of care amongst the growing number of volunteers Taste for Life engaged experts in education and the natural output of being able to train their volunteers in house created the opportunity to pass on the experience and qualifications to those looking to train their own workers or individuals in care.
With support from the local council, Ryecroft Community Centre and the European Social Fund, Taste for Life now can further develops the community its serves with its training for work program.
Our aim is to enhance the levels of care of volunteers and organisations by offering affordable access ( where possible free) to training that raises the bar on the delivery of health and social care.
