A mother and daughter who are studying on the same college course are hoping to create a recipe for success when they graduate in the summer.
23 year old Dania Dunn-Bukhari and her 63 year old mum called Judith (Dunn) started a level three patisserie course at Suffolk New College last year.
The keen bakers will be looking to use the professional skills that they gain at the Ipswich campus of the College to set up a food related business on completion of their programme.
It had been several decades since Judith had been in education. However, she was surprised at how easy the transition back into study has been.
The Kesgrave resident, said: “Everyone has been very welcoming. I find the course is fun and everyone is helpful and friendly. I feel very comfortable here. Because of my age I was finding it difficult to find any sort of job. So this was a way f getting the training with the long term ambition of setting up a business.”
Judith – who used to work for the British Embassy in Saudi Arabia before returning to the UK – feels others who have not been in education for a while should not worry about returning.
She said: “This (doing the course) has given me a new lease of life and I’m enjoying it. To others who read this and who are thinking about changing careers, I’d say don’t hesitate.”
Judith’s daughter – Dania – studied art and design at the Suffolk New College before gaining a degree in the same field at the University of Plymouth last year.
She said: “I graduated and wanted to be a teacher but I didn’t have doors opening for me because of Covid reasons. So, as I love being artistic and have a passion for painting I thought I could turn that into something else.
“Since I was seven years old I’ve always loved baking – so I pursued this course and we both signed up.
“My mum thought that because of her age this wouldn’t be possible. When she got the letter through to say she had been accepted she was very excited.
In terms of doing the course at the same time, Judith said: “I think this has brought us closer together – we are a close family anyway – but we help each other. I read articles and then we discuss them. We hope to do some work together in the future and we thought it would be useful for both us to have the same qualification and understanding of patisserie. If we had a coffee shop, bakery or patisserie, we could have art on the walls created by Dania. We could combine it with lots of other things.”
Dania – who is honing her talents at Cake Box in Ipswich outside of College, added: “I enjoy being on the course with my mum. It’s a good way of spending time together. It’s something we have always wanted to do together – for me this is very big.” Mike Mulvihill is the Director of the Service Industries Academy at Suffolk New College. He said: “It’s very rare to have two generations of the same family studying on the same course – so this is a lovely story. Judith and Dania are both talented students who have great potential. It’s our pleasure to help them on their journey.”