Post office gets Bristol cooking

Two hundred children from primary, secondary and special needs schools across Bristol are getting the chance to learn to cook healthy meals with professional chefs thanks to funding from the Post Office.  

Twenty schools that are taking part in Let’s Get Cooking, a Lottery-funded national network of healthy cooking clubs, have been invited to special sessions, organised by Business in the Community, at The Cookery School based at the acclaimed Bordeaux Quay restaurant. In addition, up to four staff from any local business can attend each session to learn about healthy cooking to help spread the word in the local community.

At the first session on 2 December, Henbury Court Primary school brought six Year Two pupils and five parents from their Let's Get Cooking club. During the two-hour session, they were shown how to make vegetable soup and they all made soda bread and cranberry and poppy seed muffins, finishing with a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the restaurant and bistro and a lesson in how to set a table correctly.  Further sessions will take place with different schools and businesses each week.

Maggie Sims, Deputy Operations Manager for Let’s Get Cooking, said. “It was an inspirational, memorable and most enjoyable afternoon.  The children and adults learned loads and all wanted to try the recipes at home.  They learnt new recipes that included a range of different ingredients that tasted so delicious!”

Christina Ioakimopoulou from the Post Office Ltd said, “"We are inviting local businesses along to spread the healthy eating message within the community and also to encourage them to support nearby schools, to help their Let's Get Cooking clubs to continue for many years to come.”

Let’s Get Cooking is a national network of school-based healthy cooking clubs, supported by a £20 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund and led by the School Food Trust.  To date, more than 2500 schools across England have joined the programme, with 324 located in the South West.  By the end of 2012, more than one million children, family and community members will have learned new cooking skills through the Let's Get Cooking programme. The charity, Business in the Community, is one of the programme’s partners and is working with companies to support Let's Get Cooking clubs.

Post Office Ltd is sponsoring the cooking workshops to inspire, educate and challenge children to take away positive messages about food and wellbeing. By working closely with Bristol's schools and its community, The Cookery School and Post Office partnership is helping to spread positive messages about food.

For further information, please contact Vanessa Strauss at Business in the Community on 0207 566 8762