Non-verbal boy gets career support from top chef

Joshie Harris and his father travelled more than 120 miles to deliver replacement homemade pies to Tommy Banks

An 11-year-old autistic boy has travelled more than 120 miles to deliver a batch of pies he made himself to Michelin-starred chef Tommy Banks, who lost 2,500 of them to thieves.

A refrigerated van containing the pies, which were intended for sale at York Christmas Market, was stolen on 1 December near Ripon and later found damaged, along with the pastries inside.

Budding chef Joshie Harris, who is non-verbal, baked replacements and travelled with his father from their home in Peterborough to York at the weekend to hand them over.

Mr Banks said he felt "lucky" to have spent time with Joshie and has offered to support the boy's future career.

The 2,500 stolen pies were worth about £25,000, according to Mr Banks

Joshie's father, Dan Harris, said after their meeting that Mr Banks was "a wonderful guy who was incredibly supportive".

He said Mr Banks had given Joshie a cookery lesson at his pie stall in the market and had also offered him work experience when he was older.

"When Joshie gets to 16 years old he's going to take him into his restaurants and help him with some training and education on cooking, and that's huge for us", he said.

Mr Banks also created a social media post asking other chefs if Joshie could visit their kitchens and learn about the industry.

Tommy Banks said the pies Joshie made were "beautiful"

Mr Harris said he was amazed by the "generosity and kindness" the family had been shown and said Mr Banks' offer to help his son was "very important in terms of the life Joshie will have when his parents are gone".

He said his son was "a fantastic chef" and the support from Mr Banks was "thrilling".

Mr Harris said Joshie communicates with an iPad that can identify pictures and words

Mr Harris said another "exciting" development had come about as a result of his son's baking.

Joshie relies on technology every day and uses an iPad - referred to as a "talker" - with advanced software as a means of communication.

Mr Harris said access to the devices was difficult and many families were not aware of the software, but the publicity around Joshie's pies had led to 100 talkers being donated.

He added: "Now I've got a big task of going round the UK trying to drop off these talkers, hopefully before Christmas, because I know the power of communication for these children is the difference in the quality of their life".

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