Benefits

Learning to cook healthy, family meals from scratch has a range of benefits. Since the launch of Let's Get Cooking in 2007 we have developed a range of ways of measuring the success of our progamme. Some of the benefits are listed below:

Health

More than half (59%) of Let's Get Cooking club members report eating a healthier diet following their involvement with the programme.  Click here for more detail on our evaluation study.

Social

On average each Let's Get Cooking club member shares their cooking skills with at least one other person and 90% cook again at home.

Our Lottery-funded after school Let's Get Cooking clubs also provide children and young people with an opportunity to develop their social skills with peers and across generations.

Personal

Learning to shop on a budget, prepare ingredients and cook healthy dishes helps helps people to make healthy food choices. Learning to cook is a core life skill which helps to develop confidence and social skills.

Education

Cooking is a fun and practical way to learn for all ages.  Following a recipe can teach time management and planning skills, develop reading and numeracy, can bring science to life, help learn about geography and history by finding out about where food and ingredients come from, and much more! Cooking can be used in and out of the classroom and used across the curriculum.

In more formal way, a Let's Get Cooking club can add to a school’s Extended Schools range of activities, be included in the Self Evaluation Form for Ofsted and contribute to Healthy Schools status.  

Community

Let's Get Cooking clubs have proved a successful way to get harder to reach parents engaged with school activities and to develop positive links within the local community.  Each Let's Get Cooking club holds at least three community cooking events each year, ranging from family picnics to afternoon tea for grandparents or mass participation ‘cookalong’ sessions for hundreds of people.

Family

Let's Get Cooking enables the whole family to learn cooking skills at an appropriate level, and encourages family members to share their skills, knowledge and new interest in healthy food.

Cooking can help families to spend quality time together, cooking and eating the food they have prepared.

Sustainability

The Let's Get Cooking 'train the trainer' approach ensures that demonstration skills and healthy eating knowledge is embedded in the local community through passionate and enthusiastic volunteers.

Advice is provided to Let's Get Cooking clubs and groups to help them become self-sustaining over the longer term.  Programme partners Business in the Community also help Let's Get Cooking clubs to link with local businesses, utilising volunteering opportunities and donations to support the clubs.