International Women’s Day 2022: The east London bakery changing lives via cakes

From lavender iced berry cakes to gooey chocolate brownies scattered with purple, white and green petals, the Luminary Bakery shelves are stacked with treats inspired by the colours of International Women’s Day.

But for staff at this social enterprise, the day - first marked in 1911, to celebrate women’s progress and protest inequalities - is far from the only time the team’s focus is on fairness.

Founded in 2014, Luminary’s mission is to offer a ‘bridge’ to disadvantaged women, who have endured homelessness, sexual exploitation or domestic violence, to independence.

And the proof is in the pudding when it comes to the tailor-made training scheme, delivered in a Bake-Off style kitchen via Instagram-worthy patisserie.

More than 130 women have been through its kitchen doors to date, with 71 in 2021 alone.

Every single one had experienced some form of gender-based violence, while 75% had been homeless, 28% had been in the criminal justice system, and 15% had been in care.

Jay joined Luminary as a bakery trainee in September 2019, having struggled with an undiagnosed learning disability, an abusive relationship and family breakdown.

Her confidence was at rock bottom - and she couldn’t believe the scheme could help her.

“I just don’t think this will ever lead to work for me,” she told staff on joining the programme.

Jay said: “When I first started as an apprentice, I was very shy and felt nervous and frightened that I would do something wrong and someone would tell me off.”

“Taking orders [in the cafe], I was so scared of the customers and the long queue but with time and guidance from my line manager I became more confident even when it was busy.”

But she completed the bakery traineeship, and went on to become an apprentice - working in Luminary’s busy cafe during the pandemic - and has since gone on to a stable job elsewhere.

“Receiving praise for the job I was doing allowed me to grow in myself,” she added.

“Self-belief is still a journey for me but every day I am growing and learning in my new role.”

Founder Alice Williams, 33, describes Luminary as a “bridge for women to move from disadvantage towards a fulfilling life”.

After growing up in south London, in 2013 Alice, who now lives in Romford, was working at Kahaila Church, in Brick Lane, Tower Hamlets, and volunteering at a nearby women’s hostel.

One of the most deprived boroughs in the city, Alice and her colleagues were supporting women fleeing abuse and violence, facing homelessness, or caught up in the sex industry.

“I began to understand the reasons why they weren’t able to move beyond that,” she told LondonWorld.

“So many of them had dreams and aspirations but didn’t have any way of getting there.”

Determined to provide a way out for some of the women she met, Alice began running “very small scale” bakery workshops in a Bethnal Green church, producing baked goods to sell.

It was where the first iteration of Luminary’s bakery training scheme came into being.

“The gap we saw was to provide training and employment opportunities for them to provide for themselves, to develop a career and income, and move forward,” Alice explained.

“There are brilliant organisations providing crisis support and help to get these women to a place of safety.

“It was the next bit of the journey we wanted to help make possible.

Now, with two venues, boards of directors and trustees, support from the Duchess of Sussex, and a newly published cookbook, Luminary is going from strength to strength.

Over the last seven years, it has quadrupled its kitchen capacity, opening a premises in Stoke Newington in 2017, and a second in Camden, where 28 women now train at a time.

“We’ve got a big training room set up like the Bake-Off tent, so each woman has got her own workstation,” Alice said.

A total of 56 women train a year, in cohorts of seven, completing a six-months baking and food hygiene course, followed by personal and career development, such as learning budgeting skills and practising job applications, before going on to be mentored into work.

The programme is “flexible,” Alice said, with a “one-day-a-week commitment within school hours”.

Trainees also have access to support workers, a trauma therapist, and Luminary is hoping to soon be able to offer childcare.

“We try to offer wraparound support, recognising how much of a big step that change in her life is,” Alice said.

Luminary is funded via both selling coffees and cakes in the two cafes - cash that supports paid work placements for its graduates - and grants, donations and corporate partnerships.

Lockdown was “challenging” and the bakery became “more of an emergency service” - ensuring women had food and emotional support - and battling to keep its training running.

But digital exclusion - and the fact some women didn’t even have kitchens at home, let alone professional bakery equipment - meant a huge sigh of relief when schools reopened and in-person work could resume.

However, the corporate side has grown, with demand for letterbox brownies and wedding cakes on the up.

Another graduate, Tara, who joined as an apprentice in 2021 after completing the Luminary scheme, has set a new company record for the fastest-ever wedding cake creation.

“This is my first permanent job and I am so happy to be part of Luminary,” she said. “Every day I enjoy setting challenges and I love seeing what I can achieve.”

And newly-passionate about fondant icing and sugar sculpture, Tara, now an artisan baker, is working with celebrity clients and creating recipes for French fashion conglomerate LVMH.

“We want to offer more paid work experience so we’re really keen to grow and create more job opportunities,” Alice said.

“We also want to expand Luminary outside London - there are women that need us everywhere.”

To support Luminary on IWD 2022, visit the cafes in Stoke Newington and Camden, or place an order via the website at: https://luminarybakery.com/pages/shop