Celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager will be crunching her way through edible bugs at careers fair in Kent next week.

The Bush Grub edible bugs company, a creation of young entrepreneur Ben Bartlett from Sittingbourne, will be asking celebrity panel hosts to try out his flavoured insects as part of the KentChoices4U careers event.

Ben, 23, has been successfully running his own company for four years and is a shining example to other young people of how successful they can become. Ben has been invited along to share business-creation tips with young people.

The KentChoices4U event is set to be the biggest yet with more than 4,000 young people already registered to attend.

KentChoices4U is the largest local authority sponsored careers event of its kind in the UK, helping young people decide on their career path. It is in its fourth year and has been steadily growing in popularity each year.

It is aimed at students, young people and adults who are deciding on their future after school, college or university; actively seeking employment; planning a return to work or considering a career change.

The event is being held on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 March at Detling Showground, near Maidstone.

On 25 March it will be open just for students from Kent schools, while the 26 March is open to everyone looking for help and advice about gaining employment.

About 125 employers are involved and many of these will be hoping to attract the next generation of young people to be part of their future workforce.

Regional and national employers will be attending along with careers guidance professionals, training providers and specialist staff from colleges and universities.

Rosemary Shrager, who runs a cookery school in Tunbridge Wells, is among the employers supporting the event.

As well as talking about the benefits of taking on trainee chefs and apprentices, she will be trying out Bush Grub’s flavoured insects.

However, eating bugs will hardly be a new experience for her, having undertaken a similar challenge while taking part in “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!” three years ago.

KentChoices4U will offer young people the chance to have a go at a wide variety of potential careers from plumbing, clinical skills and silversmithing to coding, flying a helicopter simulator, print-making and fashion workshops.

They will be able to apply for live job opportunities, apprenticeships, training placements and volunteering openings.

There will be a number of zones at the event, reflecting areas the government has identified as essential for the future growth of the UK.

These are: construction and the built environment; land based; transport and logistics; creative, cultural and media and the visitor economy; engineering and advanced manufacturing; life sciences and healthcare; environmental technologies and energy.

Roger Gough, Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Education said: “KentChoices4U is an incredibly inspirational event. It has been growing in size each year and we are delighted to have 4,000 young people from Kent due to attend.

“It gives young people an opportunity to explore different types of careers as well as the chance to talk to potential future employers first hand helping them to make decisions about their future.”

The event will also host a meeting of Kent’s 12 District Economic Development Officers, who will be discussing apprenticeships and the Paramount Development in Swanscombe.

At the event on Wednesday 25 March, there will be a reception hosted by Invicta Chamber of Commerce for school and college leaders and employers.

Marcus Mason from the British Chamber of Commerce will be there promoting greater partnership working between education and business to improve the transition of young people into the world of work.

Anyone interested in attending can book by clicking here.