Summer courses across the county for Central Bedfordshire Council

As part of their holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, Central Bedfordshire Council commissioned Food etc to run five courses of cookery workshops for children and their parents/carers in Biggleswade, Dunstable, Flitwick, Sandy and Shefford.

One of the parents who came along said about her son: “He struggled a bit because of his sensory issues that affect him touching unfamiliar things such as the flour and chicken. And he sometimes found it hard to navigate being around other families. But he Food etc volunteer went out of her way to make him feel comfortable.”

A young person said: “The course gave me new skills and made me feel more confident.”

Another attendee was 12 and suffers from alopecia anxiety and autism. For them, entering new situations can be challenging especially when she doesn’t know the people or what is expected of her. Her mum said: “She loves cooking at home but I wasn’t sure that she would enjoy it with unfamiliar people in a different place. But she loved it from the first session and throughout the course.”

Michelle Hart, Holiday Activities and Food Programme Coordinator and School Aged Childcare Lead for CBC said: “Thank you so much to Food etc and your volunteers for all the hard work and support over the summer.”