Healthy Holidays in Bradford

04 October 2019

Our partners at Inn Churches have had a busy summer teaching more than 400 kids aged 7-15 how to cook.

The cooking workshops were run as part of the Healthy Holidays programme in Bradford, funded by the Leeds Community Foundation and Give Bradford. 

In the city around 40,000 children live in poverty – more than 18% of secondary school pupils are eligible for free school dinners – and during the summer parents often skip meals so their children can eat. 

Undernourished kids can suffer from ‘summer learning loss’, which has a detrimental impact on their mental and physical wellbeing, as well as their educational attainment during the holidays, and many families referred to the holidays as a ‘constant struggle’.

Healthy Holidays involved more than 100 charities and community groups across Bradford to provide meals, cooking workshops and food education, pay-as-you-feel fresh food markets and other activities to ensure every child could be properly fed.  

Inn Churches’ Storehouse Food Hub tackles food poverty and waste by intercepting surplus and unwanted food from partners across the city, sorting and storing it, then redistributing it to people in need. 

They delivered nearly 50 Jamie’s Ministry of Food cooking workshops to the local community. The kids learnt how to safely chop and prepare their own ingredients, how to regulate heat settings, and how to flavour their dishes using herbs and spices. 

In addition, more than 5 tonnes of surplus food was collected to contribute to 3,178 meals for children and young people, including 1,500 packed lunches. The activities also engaged over 80 adults, family members and volunteers who got involved too.

We’re proud to support these initiatives delivered by Inn Churches’ Storehouse Food Hub. The valuable life skills the kids learnt will empower them to make healthier food choices as they grow into adults, and they will hopefully pass these skills onto other family members and friends. 

To find out more about Jamie’s Ministry of Food cooking classes in Bradford, please contact the team at Inn Churches: https://www.jamiesministryoffood.com/locations/