A GROUP of young Forest food enthusiasts have gained £35,000 funding to make their catering and retail products business dream come true.

Last week top chefs at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant in Cheltenham cooked the youngsters a slap up feast to celebrate their success and gave them top tips on how to compete in a hungry market.

"Oakey Doakey" will run a catering service from Acorn House in Cinderford as well as creating jams, sauces, cakes, biscuits and other delicious produce all sourced from the Forest area.

The Euro-cash and Lottery funding bids were netted with the help of expert fund-raisers at Forest housing association Two Rivers.

Some £25,000 came from funding from Forest of Dean Local Action, part of the EU's Rural Development Programme for England. The other £10,000 came from the Big Lottery Fund.

Jamie Oliver is renowned for his caring cooking, setting up a restaurant business to provide a taste of the working world for troubled young people.

Jamie's team tasted some of the Oakey Doakey produce and gave it the thumbs up. Oakey Doakey will go to the Forest Food Festival, at Speech House on Sunday (October 7) for their first public appearance.

The 'Jamie's Italian' general manager Fran­cesco Gitto said he was really excited by what the young Foresters were doing.

"These young people have had a tough start in life and they need a chance to build their skills and their self-confidence. That's exactly what Jamie and the Jamie Oliver Group has put so much effort into. Good food is about people and about community as much as quality ingredients and culinary magic," he said.      

Teenager Nathan Fowler has had a difficult life so far and says he is really looking forward to a brighter future.

"I am so excited about this, actually getting to do something with my life. Because of my troubled past, it's been really difficult to get the training I need to get a job. This is a new start and I really want this to work,"  he said.

Two Rivers community initiatives officer Jane Cordier said: "Just like Jamie we are determined to help these young people get a taste for the world of work. It is really tough for young people these days, especially if they have no family support.

"These kids deserve a chance. It's great we have been able to lend them a helping hand, along with our colleagues from Rooftops Housing."

The Oakey Doakey project is being set up by the G3 project, which works with young homeless people in Gloucestershire to get their lives back on track.

G3 is run by Rooftops Housing and helps troubled young people find a home, training and new opportunities.