A new cooking course is serving up skills, confidence, and community over a shared love of food.
The Friendly Food Club, a Dorset-based charity, has launched a free weekly programme in Springbourne, Bournemouth, designed to teach healthy home cooking while bringing people together.
The Cook and Connect course, which is a rolling six-week course on Monday mornings at Elim Church on Curzon Road, welcomes beginners, improvers, and carers.
Group members, tutors, and volunteers on the new, free to join Cook and Connect course being run in Bournemouth by the Friendly Food Club healthy cooking charity. (Image: Granville PR)
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Andrea Leng, who attends the sessions with her son Ben Clegg, said: “Ben has type 1 diabetes and it’s always just seemed easier for me to do all the cooking.
“But he is really enjoying chopping and learning the simple cooking techniques.
“He is also showing so much confidence and talking to others, and that is wonderful.
“It’s fantastic to be able to cook together as mother and son.”
Each week, participants learn to prepare a different dish from scratch, focusing on affordable, nutritious meals.
Previous menus have included tomato and veg pasta sauce, vegetable pancakes, and rainbow stir fry.
Arsenal Whittick, who lives with his daughter and grandchild, said: “I am really enjoying cooking from scratch and am learning so much about healthy food from the tutors.
“They are very patient and knowledgeable, and it is at a very easy pace.
“I want to be able to have good healthy meal waiting for my daughter when she comes home and I also want to be able to cook with my grandson, which will be brilliant.”
All equipment and food are provided for the classes.
Sally Brown, a Friendly Food Club tutor, said: “These sessions are to inspire and support local people to cook healthy and affordable food with confidence.
“Each week we explore something new – from smart food budgeting and shopping hacks, to batch cooking and reducing waste.
“Group members help prepare the recipes and then sit down to eat with the group or take their food away with them to eat at home.
“Whether you pop in for one session, a few, or all of them – we’d love to see you.”
Cook and Connect is funded by Dorset Community Foundation, Asda Foundation, BCP Council, and the South West Procurement Alliance.
It builds on the success of similar sessions in Westham and Littlemoor in Weymouth, and in Swanage.
The Springbourne course runs during term time from 10.30am to 12.30pm.
Places can be booked through the Friendly Food Club website.
Dining and Cooking