The football food van serving up jobs for out-of-work young people

Southampton FC fans have something to celebrate this season… even if the football goes awry. There’s a new food trailer dishing up tasty bites on match days at St Mary’s Stadium, and it has a good cause at its heart. 

Stuffed Gourmet Trailers gives young people paid work alongside training and mentoring, providing them with the skills and confidence they need to find long-term employment.

At a time when almost a million young people across the country are not in employment, education or training (NEET), that could be a lifeline for their futures.

It has been a trying start to the season for Southampton FC, still recovering from its ‘Spygate’ training ground scandal last year. But at least Saints fans will be able to enjoy high-quality food including noodles, duck wraps and burgers from the Stuffed trailer through the 2026-27 Championship season.

And they can dine easy knowing that all revenue generated by sales will help the venture to continue its important work.

James Pounds, the founder and director of Stuffed Gourmet Trailers, says “The main difference is our emphasis on employing these young people. It’s a chance for someone who can’t get employment when they’ve left college or school.

“Paid work is important in itself. It gives people self-esteem and confidence. In our industry, it’s definitely important that there’s lots of things that you learn within it. Yes, it’s serving in a food trailer, but it’s a bit of front of the house, it’s a bit of accounting. 

“It’s all the stuff that I think you need in life to be successful but built into this trailer. 

“Whether you do it for the rest of your life, probably not. But it’ll give you some life skills for the future.”

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Stuffed Gourmet Trailers has received £42,000 of investment from Big Issue Invest to support its mission to use food and hospitality to give opportunities and training to NEET young people.

Pounds says this new trailer was “fully financed by Big Issue Invest”. It has given them the “financial ability to be here” on the corner of St Mary’s, ready to serve fans as they pour into the stadium on match days.

Holger Westphely, managing director at Big Issue Invest, says: “For us the social return is more important than the financial return. So we’re able to take risks. This is a start-up. We invested so they were able to buy this trailer and we’re hoping that they will thrive and grow.

“And we are ready to invest more to buy future trailers and hire more people to scale up this flywheel generating opportunities for young people.”

The new venture will see Stuffed Gourmet Trailers employ and provide newtraining opportunities to 18- and 19-year-olds who are supported by Saints Work, a Saints Foundation project for young people who are, or are at risk of becoming, NEET.

Sam Fulling, managing director of Saints Foundation, the official charity of Southampton FC, says: “Our Saints Works project is set up to tackle unemployment in the city, but particularly trying to get to those young people who are furthest from the job market.

“There might be many reasons why they can’t access it. It might be about their home life, it might be about educational attainment, it might be about their mental health. It might be about even travel in the city.

“The Saints Works project is set up to directly target those issues, provide support for the young people along the way, ultimately really be able to guide them through the next steps, help them find a destination, something they’re passionate about, something they can see themselves in a career in, and then join up those things with the network Saints Foundation has to hopefully be able to provide a career which will be a long-lasting and successful one for them.”

There is stark inequality in Southampton. Deprivation is particularly high in the western and eastern flanks of the city, which has suffered from the impact of deindustrialisation over the last 50 years. 

Around 6.5% of young people in the Year 12 and Year 13 cohort (aged 16 to 18) in Southampton are either NEET or their occupation is unknown.

Jack Treblicock, an 18-year-old employed by Stuffed who was introduced by the Saints Work programme, says: “I dropped out of school early due to personal issues. I had no experience of searching for jobs. It’s very hard to find one.

“So I went through Saints Foundation and I filled up on my personal skills that I needed for a job. And since then Stuffed came up, I haven’t looked back since.

“For me, it’s not all about the money, it’s about there’s a really nice team that you can work with and it doesn’t feel like a job, you know, it just feels like you’re out, you’re a good team and you’re having fun. Doesn’t feel like a job at all. 

“So for me, a key part is having a nice team to work with.”

Trainees have already received training and employability support from Saints Works and Big Issue Recruit, which specialises in finding opportunities for people facing barriers to work.

Treblicock says that it has “massively” changed his life. “Without it, I would never have had a job. It’s been unreal and I would recommend it to anyone.”

As part of their new roles, young people will also work towards obtaining City and Guilds NVQ level 1 to 3 qualifications. That will be key to build their CVs and prepare them for the workplace.

“If this is a success, it could serve as a blueprint for events all over the country. Stuffed already serve the Cheltenham Festival, cricket at Lords and a number of other high-profile events,” Westphely adds. “But the great thing about football is that there are home matches every week or every other week. So it is a regular income, a steady job for the people in this trailer and doesn’t involve constantly travelling around the country to other events. 

“If we can find other football clubs willing to give this opportunity to young people, to their fans, to their communities, then we can grow this and create a much bigger opportunity.”

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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