Bread Ahead is aiming to teach one million children and young adults to bake for free over the next decade as part of its new initiative, The Future Bakers Project.
On World Baking Day (17 May), the London bakery and baking school will kick off the initiative which combines hands-on learning with accessible digital education.
This will be delivered through three core pillars:
- London flagship workshops – weekly children’s baking sessions available at Bread Ahead Borough Market (on Mondays) and Wembley (on Tuesdays). These can be booked via futurebakers@breadahead.com
- Digital learning platform – the Future Bakers webpage features downloadable recipes and content, links to lessons and resources
- Community & partner-led activity – working with schools, youth organisations, charities and cultural institutions across the UK and internationally.
The initiative is supported by organisations including Clarence Court, Disney, and Marriage’s Flour which will help deliver themed baking experiences, educational content and ingredient-led learning opportunities both in person and online.
By 2028, the initiative hopes to have engaged with 100,000 young people, 500,000 by 2032, and one million by 2036.
Beyond the numbers, Bread Ahead said it wants to spark a generation who ‘see baking not just as a skill, but as a source of confidence, imagination and connection’.
It will be led by Bread Ahead founder Matthew Jones, who started the bakery in 2013 and has since grown it into an internationally recognised bakery brand. The business now has franchises in the Middle East including in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, and Jeddah. It is also set to continue international expansion in 2026 with new franchises opening in Bangkok next month, Manila in June, and a flagship store in New York City in the summer. Expansion continues in England as well as Bread Ahead seeks new franchise partners for 20 London sites.
“It started with a single market stall in Borough Market and a simple belief – that baking brings people together. What has grown since is a community built around sharing real life skills, confidence and creativity with the next generation,” said Bread Ahead founder Matthew Jones.
“The Future Bakers Project is about passing that on – opening the kitchen to young people everywhere and showing them what they are truly capable of. Because when you learn to bake, you don’t just learn recipes, you learn resilience, independence and joy.”
The project builds on the Mini Master’s Baking Academy which was launched by Bread Ahead in 2024. It saw children aged seven and up invited to take part in interactive baking experiences at its bakery school in London’s Borough Market over the summer holidays.
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