Trainee chef cooks up enthusiasm to step out for charity

A MAN who was once living on the streets but who has turned his life around has signed up to run Jane Tomlinson’s Leeds 10k as a thank you to the charity that he says saved his life.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Apr 2011, 07:00 BST

Scott Stephenson, 24, of Leeds, is an ex-client of St George’s Crypt, which helps the homeless in Leeds, and David Pilling, a chef, who has been training Mr Stephenson in the kitchen as part of skills offered by the charity to try to get people back into work, will both take part in the race on Sunday June 19.

The pair, who are considering running in their chefs’ whites, are two of 29 runners from the Crypt taking part.

Mr Stephenson said: “The crypt has saved my life.

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“I am now a full-time volunteer and this is my way of giving something back,” he said.

He was 20 when he ended up on the streets because of personal problems. “I got involved with the wrong type of people. I lived day by day, I didn’t know where my next meal was going to come from,” he said.

Mr Stephenson was fortunate to be helped by the Crypt who gave him food and shelter and training to try to help him gain a job. After learning catering skills from Mr Pilling at the crypt, he is now in line to be taken on by a three-month apprenticeship scheme run by Pret-a-Manger.

He has never entered a run before, but Mr Pilling has run the London Marathon.

The Yorkshire Post is media partner for the event that can be supported online at www.runforall.com

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