One of our past students, Ilia Chakarov, was recently given the fantastic opportunity to work at the State Banquet that took place at Buckingham Palace in June 2019. Ilia talks below about his experience:
Having worked and helped out at the Silver Pantry in Buckingham Palace has taught me many new things which I can benefit from regarding my future projects, things like correctly preserving and maintaining a proper polish on precious metals or learning how to correctly organise tableware for an event. Probably the most important skill that I have developed from my time at Buckingham Palace would have to be learning to work in a team whilst under immense time pressure, as there were very strict timings that needed to be completed everyday. Also I learnt many new terms and their specific uses corresponding to the tableware and applying them to use during this unique experience.
Having shadowed someone my own age I felt more relaxed and could work to my fullest potential, as she and all the staff of the Silver Pantry were very friendly, helpful and extremely enjoyable to work alongside with.
I would like to thank Mr Stephen Murray for allowing me to experience this opportunity and for teaching me how to correctly handle and preserve precious metal tableware, which I find to this day very enjoyable and incredibly useful.
I would also like to thank The Creative Dimensions Trust and personally Penny Bendall for giving me the chance to work in such an amazing place.