PHONEBOX millionaire Stephen Fear put his culinary skills to the test yesterday when he cooked for two dozen homeless youngsters.

Stephen whipped up chicken curry and pancakes for the residents and staff from Ark House in Stroud after being invited to cook for them on twitter.

The CEO of housing association Bromford, Philippa Jones, invited Stephen to the house in Parliament Street after spotting some of his culinary delights on the social media site.

“As a kid I used to cook for myself a lot, I could cook pancakes by the age of five, but nowadays I don’t have much opportunity to cook for myself,” explained entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Stephen.

“However one Sunday not so long ago I found myself at home alone with a pork joint in the fridge and I remembered a recipe I had for the perfect crackling which I thought I would dust off.

“It turned out beautifully and so I put a photo on twitter and loads of people responded inviting themselves over for dinner.

“Philippa then asked me when I was going to come and cook for her and the kids at Ark House and I said name the date and time.”

Dropping out of school at 15 to start an oven cleaning business, his first major deal was achieved over the phone using the now famous red telephone box on the council estate in Bristol where he grew up.

Today he runs a multi-faceted business empire with his son and business partner, Leon and is also the patron of international homeless charity, Emmaus.

“As I’ve said before homelessness isn’t a lifestyle choice, it can happen to anyone and it is very difficult to get out of it once you are in it,” added Stephen.

“Sometimes people need a helping hand.

“I am really looking forward to spending some time with the youngsters at Ark House and I hope that my experience might inspire them to see that they can create a positive future for themselves.

It’s not where you’ve come from that matters but where you’re going.”

Mrs Jones said: “We’re delighted that Stephen is coming to Ark House to share some valuable insights about how he was able to unlock his potential to achieve such huge success.

“At Bromford we know that everyone has aspirations and we work with customers to help identify what they can do, looking at any hurdles they might need help with in overcoming to get where they want to be.”

Read the article here