CLUBS across the country have been whipping up success stories in the kitchen thanks to The Sun’s Cooking For All grants.
With the help of Tesco’s Stronger Starts, we handed out £1,000 to 150 worthy causes that help kids learn how to make their own food.
John McLellanBack to basics and learning skills at CASPA Cooks[/caption]
Many don’t have a chance to learn skills at home, and some clubs let parents join in too.
Our campaign was launched by Gladiators Steel, aka Zack George, and Sabre, whose name is Sheli McCoy.
They visited clubs in Dundee and Buckinghamshire to get it up and running.
Steel said on his visit: “The Sun’s Cooking For All fund is an amazing campaign. The amount of children it will help is huge.”
It was also backed by former Bake Off winner Candice Brown.
Emmagayle Harper and Thea Jacobs look at four clubs given a grant from thousands of applicants.
No Fuss Meals, Northampton
NO Fuss Meals is using the £1,000 grant to teach kids to cook food that has been grown from scratch – from milling flour for bread to harvesting produce and baking it.
Milly Fyfe founded the group, which works with eight to 11-year-olds.
Damien McFaddenFounder Milly Fyfe with two little helpers at No Fuss Meals in Northampton[/caption]
She said: “We try to reach the kids most at need for education around food and nutrition, and this grant is helping us do exactly that.
“We had our first session just before the holidays, where we taught a group of 30 primary school children how to make bread from scratch and to make their own butter.
“At the end of the session, they had their homemade butter and homemade bread together – which was really cute as they were all so excited. Each child also got some pea seeds to grow at home so they can keep things going.
“The whole process that we do with the kids shows everything from field to fork, and it’s all for free because money shouldn’t be a barrier to kids learning about food.
“The funding from The Sun and Tesco has allowed us to create an immersive classroom and continue reaching the children who need these experiences the most.
“Funding like this is vital for projects like mine because we don’t change – we want to help low-income families, who may not have the chance to visit farms, and teach making dishes from scratch.”
Shakespeare Street Youth Club, Glasgow
SCOTLAND’S oldest youth club provides vital cooking lessons in the heart of Glasgow’s most deprived area, Maryhill.
The team have between six and eight children each Wednesday to learn about nutrition and how to make healthy meals.
Andrew BarrGirls enjoying a home-made dish at Shakespeare Street Youth Club in Glasgow[/caption]
For some, it can be the only home-made meal they get.
Kids plan, shop and make the meal, so they know it all works.
Community development worker Sarah MacNeil told The Sun: “The Sun’s funding allows us to give the children a chance to try meals and different veg, and even different meats, that they wouldn’t have at home or think they don’t like.
It can give families a sense of relief that there’s at least a couple of nights a week they’re benefiting from a healthy meal if they can’t get one at home.
“Giving kids a chance to get hands on with food shows they can do it.”
And they’re seeing the benefits, with some of the children learning to like new things.
Sarah said: “A nine-year-old came along and he wasn’t adventurous, so we encouraged him to try mushrooms.
“He was adamant he wouldn’t like them in his bolognese. But when he tried it after making it, he had to have three more portions because he loved it so much.”
Kids attending the Wednesday night club range from eight to 12 years old.
CASPA Cooks, Bromley, South London
THE London-based youth club opted to spend its £1,000 grant on equipment such as knives and bowls, and funding staff to run cooking sessions.
Sessions focus on teaching autistic children how to cook in a safe environment.
John McLellanA youngster tucks in and enjoys his fruit pancake at CASPA Cooks in Bromley[/caption]
Head of fundraising Julie Covill told The Sun: “For many neurodiverse children, learning skills such as cooking can be a bit more challenging and not something their parents can take on at home.
“We focus on teaching primary school children how to make basic meals – they are motivated by getting to taste things at the end.
“We teach them basic knife skills and how to follow instructions to put together simple dishes. Many of the kids would love to make things like chocolate pancakes, but we encourage them to enjoy healthy food.
“At the end of each session, we discuss what they’d like to do and try to incorporate that, so every so often we do something a little less healthy to keep them interested.
“We find that by doing the cooking in a group, some children are more willing to try things that they might not try at home, which is great.
“The kids love it and are constantly asking us what they’ll be making in the next session and when they’ll get to eat it.
“These skills are vital and If it wasn’t for the grant from The Sun, we’d struggle to keep delivering sessions like this.”
YMCA Cupar Youth Cafe, Fife
THE youth group has used £1,000 funding to upgrade resources for the children and buy the basic equipment and ingredients to make sure all people attending can learn to cook.
The centre allows young people aged 11 to 18 to learn key skills – and last year they delivered 1,280 meals over 26 weeks.
Michael SchofieldGemma Frail promotes colourful veggies at the YMCA Cupar Youth Cafe in Fife[/caption]
Cafe co-ordinator Gemma Frail said: “There’s key pockets of food poverty in our town and children need to be able to come somewhere to be fed.
“Food shopping at the moment is extortionate and having that covered means we can continue providing for the community, especially the kids.
“Our nurture and nourish programme gives young people a chance to come and learn about food, preparation, cooking and have a nutritious meal they’ve made themselves.
“We try to keep them away from having a ‘beige’ plate, so we introduce them to different vegetables.”
Beige plates tend to be too heavy on carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and potatoes.
Gemma added: “Peppers have proved to be a huge hit with lots of our children.
“We’ve done a Mexican night where they made fajitas.
“They’ve also learnt to make healthy pizzas and burgers.
“It’s been fantastic to see the confidence grow in the youngsters who attend.”
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
