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Success for Caerphilly’s first Community Cooking Champion

Posted on : 19 Jan 2023

Success for Caerphilly’s first Community Cooking Champion
Caerphilly County Borough’s first Community Cooking Champion has come to an end after eight weeks of classes.

The Community Cooking Champion was launched in September 2022, as part of the Caerphilly Cares programme to help tackle food poverty and insecurity.

The course included eight weeks of cooking classes, prepared and taught by volunteers from CCBC’s catering staff as part of their corporate volunteer scheme and aimed to teach residents how to cook healthy, budget friendly meals from scratch. Participant also received recipe cards and a slow cooker to encourage them to continue cooking once the course is completed.

The initiative was supported by Morrisons Community Champions from Rogerstone, Bargoed and Caerphilly stores, by supplying the ingredients and attending the course. Additional funding was also provided by the Food4Growth project, which is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Cllr Carol Andrews, Cabinet Member for Education and Communities commented, “Having the knowledge and ability to cook is an important skill, which unfortunately not everyone has access too.

“Our hope is that these sessions have given participants the opportunity, ability and confidence to access and prepare a healthy diet for themselves and their families, and that the skills that they learnt in these sessions will be shared and passed on to others within their communities.”

Kate Davies, Healthy Food Trainer for Caerphilly County Borough Council, and course volunteer added: “The recipes were created with budget and healthy eating in mind and started simple but got more difficult as the course progressed. It’s been amazing to see the difference this course has had on the participants, with their confidence in the kitchen growing each week.”

Cheryl Smith, course participant said: “The course has been fantastic. Each week we come and learn how to make a new meal from scratch, and each recipe can be cooked in the oven, slow cooker and air fryer, which is a great option for saving time and money. The group here have been amazing, we have all become such good friends and will be staying in touch now that the course has finished.”

To join a waiting list for a Community Cooking Champion programme in your area email: caerphillycares@caerphilly.gov.uk or phone: 01443 811490

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