Children North East has used a grant of £4,886 from the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland to help families in Newcastle eat more healthily and improve their skills in the kitchen.
Dozens of families are learning to cook healthy meals together thanks to the new project at the charity’s community hub in Cowgate.
The participants choose what food they want to try together, before everyone in the family pitches in to help prepare the meal.
The sessions are free and focus on healthy eating and nutrition, cookery skills development, as well as advice on healthy eating on a budget.
Children North East has used the £4,886 grant to cover the project’s staffing, ingredients and associated running costs.
Billie Jenkins, communications and fundraising manager at Children North East, says: “The idea of this scheme is to share vital information with families in a sensitive, friendly and accessible way, and the enjoyment that we see everyone getting out of taking part shows how well it’s working.
“We know that, for some of our families, the food they cook together can sometimes be the only hot meals they’ll get that day, so as well as the skills they’re developing and the time they’re spending together, there’s an immediate added benefit for everyone taking part.
“We simply couldn’t have delivered this project with the support we’ve had from Newcastle Building Society and it’s meant that we’ve been able to do something that we know has a positive impact on our families in both the short and long-term.”
Download the press release (PDF, 140kB).
Image caption: L-R Billie Jenkins, communications and fundraising manager at Children North East, with our Gosforth Branch Manager, Lynn Richardson, and Claudia Pearson, funding development manager at Children North East.
