Oxford Cultural Collective has announced the six candidates shortlisted for its 2026 scholarships, with two recipients set to receive grants of £5,000 each.
Alongside the financial award, the successful candidates will receive mentoring and professional support to help develop projects exploring how food and hospitality can contribute to communities, culture, society and the environment.
Dylan Grinker has been shortlisted for Refunkt Starter Packs, an alternative to conventional university starter packs designed to introduce new students to the food scene in their university city.
Following an initial pilot, the project aims to develop a model that could be replicated across higher education institutions throughout the UK.
Diva Garg’s proposal, From Their Farms To Our Plates: a journey to India, would create immersive trips to India for food professionals and students exploring relationships between farming, food systems, communities, culture and climate change.
Its longer-term ambition is to develop a financially self-sustaining programme operating across multiple destinations.
Fariya and Sahar Sharif have been shortlisted jointly for Fire In Our Bellies, which will bring together different generations of Glasgow’s Pakistani diaspora to share and preserve traditional cooking techniques and knowledge.
The project will use workshops and online publications to document culinary heritage, strengthen intergenerational connections and encourage wider understanding.
Craig McCorquodale’s Please Stay is an arts project examining how food and hospitality can bring people together.
The proposal aims to establish the foundations for public artworks and large-scale performances at locations across the UK, exploring hospitality as a means of creating connections and strengthening communities.
Kai Meredith has been shortlisted for Veg Business, a regenerative market garden combining food production with community learning.
The project will explore low-input growing, soil health, biodiversity and climate resilience while examining the potential of accessible, hyper-local food systems.
Don Sloan, Founder of Oxford Cultural Collective, said: “This year’s shortlist reflects the extraordinary breadth of ideas emerging from people who believe food and hospitality can be forces for positive change.
“Each candidate brings a distinctive perspective and a strong sense of purpose. We are delighted to recognise all six of them and look forward to seeing how their ideas and ambitions develop.”
The two successful candidates will join previous scholarship recipients on the Antonio Carluccio Changemakers Programme.
The programme provides continuing access to practitioners and industry figures who offer mentoring, guidance and professional support as recipients develop their projects and careers.
The 2026 Oxford Cultural Collective Scholarship recipients will be announced at a reception at Kings Place, London, on 26 September.