CRAVEN College says it is delighted with the success of two of its students whose pop-up Afghan restaurant is proving to be a delicious success.

Mother and daughter, Mozghan and Sonia Omari, are part of a refugee family who settled in Skipton in late 2021 after being forced to leave Afghanistan when the Taliban took over.

Mrs Omari, and Sonia, the eldest daughter of her 11 children, enrolled on the government-funded Multiply scheme at Craven College and took lessons in budgeting, booking systems and food hygiene.

Their Afghan Star Cuisine business has staged sell-out events at Embsay Village Hall and its success won them the Biggest Achievement Award at a Multiply Celebration last month in York.

Mrs Omari said: "I have always enjoyed cooking and entertaining my family and friends in Afghanistan. It is an important part of our Afghan culture to be able to share our food with old and new friends. We have made many new friends in Yorkshire and look forward to sharing our Afghan cuisine."

Husband, Ahmad and another daughter, Aveed, have joined them on the Multiply Project, while three younger children have enrolled on various courses at Craven College.

The Multiply programme is for anyone over 19 years old who does not have maths at GCSE grade C or equivalent; sessions are designed to build confidence in using numbers in daily life including budgeting, managing bills, healthy eating, understanding payslips or specific numeracy skills such as percentages or fractions.

A college spokesperson said: "Yesmien Bagh Ali and Amanda Ball, both members of the college’s projects team, supported the business from conception to reality by arranging food safety training, registering them with Companies House, sourcing vital equipment and instructing the mother-daughter partnership on how to use it.

"Yesmien and Amanda attended the evening and weekend pop-up restaurants to give advice, support and of course to sample the delicious Afghan cuisine. Both have a background in catering and their expertise was vital when advising on portion management and the legal intricacies of delivering food to the community.

“The Omari family are just one of our success stories, and we’re proud of all our Multiply students who come from a range of diverse backgrounds and communities who enjoyed their own successes as a result of the programme.”

Afghan Star Cuisine in addition to its pop-ups at Embsay Village Hall, is busy with party and wedding bookings. The next event at Embsay Village Hall is on Saturday, May 18. To make a booking, email Margaretcreek54@gmail.com.

To find out more about improving numeracy skills for adults, go to www.craven-college.ac.uk/the-college/projects