The Andaz Liverpool Street Hotel in London has been given a Dragon Award for the work it does training homeless people to be chefs.

The hotel, which has been running the scheme in partnership with east London homelessness charity Providence Row for two years, won the award after impressing judges with its work training the city’s ‘lost apprentices’.

The hotel ran workshops in its kitchen’s before offering work placements with a real-life recruitment process , giving trainees real-life employment experience.

Since the programme started, 24 out of the 31 people who took part in the scheme have completed the programme, with five of them moving into paid employment, four into accredited training and six into further volunteering.

Established 26 years ago, the Dragon Awards recognise excellence in corporate community engagement programmes.

“Much can be learned from this year’s SME winners,” said lord mayor of London, Alderman Roger Gifford. “They have successfully engaged with unskilled and unemployed people to spearhead the search for London’s lost apprentices.”