Breaking Barriers through Hospitality Education

For the third year in a row, the Gérard Basset Foundation is supporting WSPC's 'Now I Can Do It Too' initiative, a fully-costed programme aimed at single mothers in Athens. The programme gives its students the chance to undertake the WSET Level 1 Award in Wine, WSET Level 1 Award in Spirits, WSET Level 1 Award in Sake and the BSA Barista Level 1 Plus.

Konstantinos Lazarakis MW, President of WSPC, was a dear friend of Gérard Basset's and shares our namesake's wish to help others. He says: "We are very grateful for the Gérard Basset Foundation's support. Sometimes you need a spark to get the cogs going, and [...] the funding from Gérard Basset Foundation was what we needed in order to slightly open the door to a whole new - hopefully, whole new brave - world for WSPC, our students, and hopefully people out there that are in need of some support."

Since the beginning of our funding, and including the recently announced grant for 2025, the Gérard Basset Foundation will have supported 62 women through WSPC's programme. As a celebration of our three-year partnership, our Co-Founding Trustee and Head of Operations Romané Basset sat down with Konstantinos Lazarakis MW, as well as two alumni of the programme (Zafeirou Topalidou and Dorothea Stoumpou) to learn more about the impact of the initiative and how it is paving the way for single mothers in Greece to be given a fair chance through flexible education in wine, spirits and coffee/tea/cocoa.

Romané says: "Since 2023, it has been a delight for the Gérard Basset Foundation to support the Wine & Spirit Professional Centre's "Now I Can Do It Too" programme. The course provides tangible beverage and hospitality skills to single mothers having to navigate the challenges of raising their children while also building a career, to enable them to find work which will not only support them and their families but also provide an exciting path to develop their professional experience. Speaking with some of the beneficiaries was inspiring, hearing firsthand from them how the programme has helped them to work in an industry which they are passionate about and to surmount many of the obstacles which they have faced. We are very happy to continue our collaboration with the Wine & Spirit Professional Centre on this project in 2025."

The Gérard Basset Foundation is delighted to be supporting WSPC's 'Now I Can Do It Too' programme once again. Watch the full interview here.

Learn more about WSPC's 'Now I Can Do It Too' programme here.