‘Cooking on a budget’ courses for healthy eating

CHANGEWORKS and Calman Trust are working in partnership to deliver an exciting, new H-eat Well Project across Highland. The aim of the project is to enable people to cook healthy food affordably and to better manage their energy use. 

Calman will deliver ‘cooking on a budget’ courses supporting individuals to manage food costs and eat healthily on a low budget. Participants will learn: basic food prep and kitchen equipment skills; how to eat healthily on a low budget and save costs by meal planning; where to shop, food storage, and using kitchen energy efficiently. Participants will be given basic store cupboard ingredients and learn to plan around these and how to enhance nutrition by introducing fresh ingredients. 

The cooking classes will be held once a week over a six week period. The cooking sessions will run in a relaxed, informal environment and the participants will learn to cook a variety of dishes that they can easily replicate at home. 

Calman will deliver the classes in the local community and will engage local Good Food Volunteers to work along- side our Good Food Officer in running the classes. Once the 6 week block is complete the Volunteers may wish to continue running the cooking classes and Calman will encourage and support them in doing so. 

Changeworks, through their Affordable Warmth Advisor, will deliver affordable warmth workshops, home visits and surgeries, providing face to face advice and information so that people feel more in control of their energy use covering a range of energy related issues, for example: how to reduce household fuel costs, how to read fuel bills/meters, how to use the heating system; support to negotiate with a fuel supplier or switch tariff, and support liaising with other agencies and housing providers. 

If you are interested in finding out more about the project including the cooking classes and/or the volunteering opportunities please contact Fiona, the Good Food Officer on: 07730 141512. 

The application form for this project is available on the Nairn Healthcare website – www.nairnhealthcare.co.uk under the “Forms” section or you could pick up an application form from the surgery.