Business in the Community, a partner in the programme, worked with Post Office Ltd to provide a field trip out to a professional creative kitchen environment to add value and inspiration to the skills the children were learning in their after-school cooking clubs.
The model successfully built partnerships between a local business, The Cookery School at Bordeaux Quay and 20 local Bristol school-based cooking clubs.
200 children took part in this fantastic activity - the sponsorship subsidised a half day out of school cooking activity for, kids, teachers and some parents. They made soda bread, soups and muffins from scratch and set up table areas in which to dine together. This gave the children a chance to learn more about food in a professional, creative atmosphere and showed children a different working environment. The cooking clubs found it very valuable – the thank you letters from the children showed just how much they enjoyed the day… “I had an outstandingly brilliant day – it was lots of fun making the soup, rolls and muffins and learning to do things in a professional way. The muffins were absolutely delicious and I shared some with my dad and my sister when I got home! Thank you for a wonderful day, I will make the recipes at home again –– I was shocked at how easy it was making healthy and fresh organic food”.
The success of the model is now being used as a way to give other companies the opportunity to make a difference on the health, nutrition and education agenda’s by sponsoring cooking sessions for children in areas of great need. The model will be running in the London and Yorkshire & Humber regions, with the hope of giving another 400 children the chance to shine in a professional kitchen and show off their new skills at home!
Christina Ioakimopoulou from the Post Office Ltd said, “We are helping to spread the healthy eating message within schools and the wider community and to sustain this important activity for many years to come. We hope that other companies will help their local Let’s Get Cooking clubs through volunteering or in-kind help.”
For more information on supporting cooking clubs across England, please contact Vanessa Strauss.
