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How Peebles is becoming a hotbed of pizza making

SOSE A young woman with long purple hair holds out a pizza on a plate in front of a food counter and kitchenSOSE
The Food Punks project is aimed at helping young people learn cooking skills and build confidence

It is a long way from the bustling backstreets of Naples to the more sedate main thoroughfare through Peebles.

However, a food which is synonymous with the Italian city is now helping to offer an opportunity to young people in the south of Scotland town.

An empty building on the High Street has been converted into a pizzeria and training academy.

Food Punks - part of Tweeddale Youth Action (TYA) - is a chef-led catering organisation that is teaching cooking and catering skills.

A bald-headed, bearded man in a t-shirt and dark jacket stands in front of a restaurant building
Dave Hodson says catering played a big part in putting his life on the right track

The organisation has been running for more than a decade - doing outside catering and pop-up events - but the new pizzeria provides a precious permanent base.

Former chef Dave Hodson, TYA locality manager, knows from personal experience the difference the trade can make.

"I had turbulent teenage years, you know, I went to several high schools and left school with no qualifications," he said.

"I was not always making good decisions. I was running with a crowd I probably shouldn't have been running with.

"I think the catering industry saved my life really.

"When I was 15, I got a job working washing up at a local Italian restaurant and things just sort of moved from there."

SOSE Three people in a kitchen making pizzas, one at a prep counter, one putting pizzas in the oven and the third one slicing themSOSE
An empty building on Peebles High Street has been converted for the project

He said it was about more than just learning to make pizza, even though that is an art form in itself.

"It's around food and it's around cookery skills, but it's not necessarily geared towards spitting out chefs," he explained.

"We've seen young people coming through who've built on their own confidence and they've built on their interpersonal skills.

"We've given some focus and a bit of purpose."

He said being part of a kitchen crew and being involved with the project could be "really quite powerful" for the staff aged between 16 and 25.

A young man with long hair and a beard wearing a green-blue fleece and a green t-shirt
Musician Alex Church missed being part of a catering team

Among their number is musician Alex Church, 22, from Innerleithen.

He had worked with Food Punks before and has just returned to the area from Edinburgh.

"I'm a musician and you don't necessarily make a lot of money," he said.

"I missed the work, I missed the team, I love hospitality and making pizzas.

"It was kind of fate to be able to come back here and work with people I know, people I like and do something new and exciting."

He said the young people involved loved being part of it and having a new permanent home made a big difference.

"They want to get involved and get their hands dirty and it's the perfect way to do so," he said.

"So having this place - it's just taking that to another level."

A young man in an apron and white t-shirt with dark hair stands smiling in front of a sign reading Project Pizza
Kieran Schaedler got involved in the project after leaving school

Kieran Schaedler is 17 and from Peebles itself and got involved after he finished school in January.

Now he works making the pizzas and is involved in food preparation.

"It is good, I quite enjoy it," he said and added that it could be something he would considered as a career.

"It could be, it is really just see what happens in the next coming months."

And does he make a good pizza?

"I like to say so - I have only heard good things," he said.

A long-haired young woman in an apron and a white t-shirt stands in front of a counter in a takeaway pizza restaurant
Rachel Allan has always enjoyed working in kitchen environment

Rachel Allan is 16 and from Cardrona and also got involved after leaving school.

"I am the baker, I make all the cakes and stuff," she said.

"It is really good.

"I have always really liked being in the kitchen so it is definitely a career that I would want to be in.

"Everyone likes pizza and there are cakes and salads - it is just a good combo to have here."

A mushroom and mascarpone pizza in a cardboard takeaway box
Kieran Schaedler said he had "only heard good things" about his pizza making abilities

The project has been supported by a wide range of groups including South of Scotland Enterprise, Scottish Borders Council, the National Lottery and the Scottish government.

And, if you close your eyes and eat the pizza, you could just about imagine you were in the heart of southern Italy.