Let's Get Cooking
Let’s Get Cooking is a national network of healthy cooking clubs for children, their families and communities, backed by a £20 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Well-Being programme. Launched in 2007 and led by the School Food Trust, Let’s Get Cooking is using the Lottery funding to establish an initial network of 5,000 out-of-school cookery clubs by 2012. This will enable over one million children and family members learning new cooking skills.
As well as giving children and adults the skills and confidence to cook nutritious and tasty meals from scratch, Let’s Get Cooking is also about having fun. Clubs, which are run by volunteers, receive funding for cooking equipment and running costs, as well as training for adult helpers and a variety of resources. The training course for the volunteers has been accredited by the RSPH [], confirming its effectiveness in preparing the trainees in cookery demonstrator skills and providing training in food safety, nutrition and health and safety. The Let’s Get Cooking programme is immensely popular, with club places snapped up by schools as soon as recruitment opens in each area.
Recruitment continues apace nationally every six months with invitations eventually reaching every school in every local authority in England. Schools with existing cookery clubs can apply to join as associate clubs. If successful, they still receive support and funding but to a lesser extent than full member clubs. Associate Clubs receive £500 to help open their cooking activities out to parents and members of their local community as well as a range of resources including recipes, activity ideas, wall charts and much more. Associate clubs also have access to the Club Zone of the Lets Get Cooking website to link up with other clubs in the local area and find out about competitions, training and events.
Let’s Get Cooking prioritises schools in areas of higher deprivation. Almost half of schools signed up have a high number of pupils eligible for free school meals. In order to deliver Let's Get Cooking, the School Food Trust is working in partnership with Prince’s Trust, Business in the Community and Magic Outcomes. Together they spearhead projects aimed at key target audiences including teenagers, schools and deprived communities, and encourage sustainable support from businesses. The British Nutrition Foundation and the Royal Society for Public Health are also involved in an advisory capacity.
Let’s Get Cooking complements the recent re-introduction of practical cooking onto the curriculum for secondary school pupils, as it also involves the wider community and encourages children and their families to cook at home and eat a healthy balanced diet. The Big Lottery Fund’s Well-being programme provides funding to support the development of healthier lifestyles and to improve well-being.
Read the Let's Get Cooking Consultation Report
For more information about Let’s Get Cooking visit www.letsgetcooking.org.uk
Businesses can help to foster long-term sustainability of the clubs through a range of opportunities from employee volunteering to in-kind support for club activities and wider community events. More information is available through Business in the Community
