The Driving Health Futures project by Barnardo’s is supporting families to create healthy meals together and has the backing of Great British Bake-Off finalist Ruby Bhogal.
A recent survey by the UK’s leading children’s charity showed that many families it supports were struggling before the cost-of-living crisis gripped the nation.
In a recent poll of Barnardo’s frontline staff, more than half (59%) of respondents said they had given service users food in the previous year (2021) because they were worried that children were hungry or would have nothing to eat.
A series of seven cook-along videos have been created. They are easy to follow and will enable families, even those who do not have much cooking experience, to try something new.
All the recipes are simple to make and use widely available ingredients, and the series also includes tips on batch cooking, handling raw meat, reducing food waste and eating healthily on a budget.
Dishes include chicken and broccoli alfredo, curried cauliflower, and a butternut squash soup. You can watch them all on the Barnardo’s Family Space website.
The recipes were all specially selected by Enterprise Rent-A-Car employees, who appear in the videos to explain how to make their dish and to tell the story about why they are so important to their families.
Ruby Bhogal, a finalist in the ninth series of The Great British Bake Off and regular chef on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch, also appears in one of the videos to talk about the importance of cooking and sharing food with friends and family.
As part of the Driving Healthy Futures initiative, trainers from the British Dietetic Association’s Let’s Get Cooking team trained 125 Barnardo’s staff to deliver cooking workshops with young people and families in their communities. The workshops cover topics like feeding your family on low budgets, cooking skills for all abilities, and how to cook nutritious food for the family.
Through the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, Enterprise has donated £220,000 to fund the Driving Healthy Futures project.
As well as cooking workshops the Enterprise donation will also be used to offer cooking equipment and food vouchers so people can afford the essentials and prepare food for their families.
“Proving that eating well doesn’t have to be expensive all the dishes in the series are created from low-cost ingredients, and there are also great tips about how to be more confident in the kitchen. I urge everyone to watch a video and then roll up your sleeves and get cooking,” said Ruby Bhogal.
