News

Let's Get Cooking - September 2010

Date: 23 Sep 2010

Let’s Get Cooking

There are over 20 Let's Get Cooking clubs in Swindon.   They are doing a great job of engaging their families and local communities helping them to learn basic cooking/life skills and encouraging them to cook easy healthy meals from scratch at home. 

I wanted to let you know that we still have funding available for schools to run after school cooking clubs and we have lots of free resources on our website to help schools set their clubs up and then apply for funding and join the national network of clubs.   You can direct schools to our website at www.letsgetcooking.org.uk for the resources or they can contact myself or my colleague for further information.

You probably already know how popular the clubs have been across the country, but our evaluation of the programme has shown that 70% of club participants who learn a new skill through their Let's Get Cooking replicate it at home.  Also, what’s really encouraging is that 59% of club members have reported eating healthy food after taking part in Let's Get Cooking.  There are plenty of soft outcomes as well such as improved behaviour of looked-after children in other lessons and gained confidence.

If you’d like to see the report, do let me know and I can send one to you or you can download it here: http://www.letsgetcooking.org.uk/Resources/Annualreport  

We have a monitoring and tracking system to support the clubs as well as business support from our partners Business in the Community to help clubs gain local volunteer and business support and enable them to be sustainable longer term.  We will be running cluster meetings for clubs in the future to further support them. 

Whilst continuing to support Let's Get Cooking clubs in your area, we have also been developing training in other settings outside of schools such as Young Carers, Teenage Mums, Extended Schools and through C4Life, we piloted training for staff of Sure Start Centres earlier this year.  I’d be happy to discuss the findings of our evaluations with you should you be interested.

It would also be useful to get an update from you about what’s happening in your area as well as to hear about other programmes that are running around food and health.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards.

 

Natalie GreensladeRegional Club Coordinator, South West – Let’s Get Cooking

Government Office South West

2 Rivergate, Temple Quay

Bristol  BS1 6EH

Mobile:  07795 427750      Tel:  0117 900 1811

Fax: 0117 900 1909 

Email:  natalie.greenslade@sft.gsi.gov.uk

Website: www.letsgetcooking.org.uk