Stevenage FC Foundation, in partnership with Stevenage Borough Council, Co-Op and North Herts College are launching the second instalment of a FREE 8-week course for families to rediscover the fun in cooking.
After a highly successful first course last year, the Community Kitchen project is back to help families to get new ideas on cooking healthy, fun meals without breaking the bank and most importantly, cooking as a family.
Sessions are being held at Marriotts School on Saturday afternoons, 3:30pm-6pm starting on 16th March and are totally FREE, with spaces for 8 families per course.
As well as sharpening culinary skills, families will also be given some top tips on topics like sugar swaps, planning meals, getting in 5 a day and more.
Led by Stevenage FC Foundation, sessions will be delivered by Healthy Lifestyles Officer, Hannah Marsh, whose role is to help improve health and wellbeing in the community through physical activity and healthy living programmes.
Hannah said:
“The Community Kitchen is such an exciting project for the Foundation. Getting people thinking about ways in which they can make subtle tweaks to their time in the kitchen and enjoy cooking as a family is something we feel can have a big impact in the town. This isn’t a weight loss or physical exercise programme, just simply about coming together as a family and enjoying an activity that we all do every day.
“There’s a fantastic social element to it as well, getting families socialising with other families whilst taking part in a fun and friendly activity. The support we’ve had so far from the partners of the programme has been phenomenal and unprecedented for a new project of ours. We’ve received funding from Public Health, SBC and individual councillors as well as great support from Co-Op and North Herts College with creating the content. We’re really excited to get started”.
Stevenage Borough Council’s Sport and Wellbeing Manager, Joe Capon explains:
“The Community Kitchen is a great local project. It’s not just about helping families to eat well and improve their cooking skills. It’s also about bringing the social aspect of meal times into family life, so families can reconnect over a nutritious meal and spending quality time cooking it together.
“It’s also educational for the children as they can get stuck into the food preparation and increase their knowledge and interest in where ingredients come from and how they go together. With so many demands on family life now it’s sometimes hard to find the time to cook fresh all of the time, but with the right know how and a small budget, families can have a healthy meal on the table in 20-30 minutes.”
As well as support from organisations across the county, the project is part funded by Public Health Hertfordshire and has received support locally from a number of Stevenage Borough Councillors Sarah Mead, Liz Harrington, James Fraser, John Gardener, John Mead, Elaine Connelly, Joan Lloyd, Jeannette Thomas, Ralph Raynor, Graham Lawrence, Sara-Jane Potter, Simon Speller and Richard Henry.
For more information and to get your family’s place on the course please contact Hannah at the Foundation via email hannahm@stevenagefc.com or call 01438 223223 (Option 6).
