A warm hug, an amusing conversation, and a shared delicious and hearty meal can make family time special.
Published: Wednesday, 28th August 2024
Thanks to a council grant, families across the Cherwell district have spent memorable times together and embraced new healthy eating habits.
Supported by a community food grant from Cherwell District Council, local charity Home-Start Banbury, Bicester and Chipping Norton has run a ‘healthy eating for families on a budget’ scheme. This gave families a free slow cooker, recipe book and ingredients to help them learn more about healthy eating, preparing meals and trying new ingredients.
With a helping hand from Home-Start volunteers, families learnt how to use slow cookers to create low-cost healthy meals and improve their confidence and knowledge of ingredients and cooking techniques. They also had fun, including children cooking a meal for the whole family.
Councillor Rob Pattenden, Portfolio Holder for Healthy Communities, said: “Being able to assist local charities and organisations through our community grants is something we pride ourselves on. We value the opportunity to work with those on the ground who are closely involved with our local communities, providing crucial projects to help develop healthy, resilient and engaged residents.”
Following a successful application, Home-Start received a grant of £1,400 to run the healthy eating project. This has helped support 20 families in the district on how to take a healthier approach to meal times while preparing meals in bulk to help make food shopping more cost-effective.
Those involved warmly received the project. They found cooking more efficient and easy, with less meal-time stress and more ingredient variety. These positive impacts will be carried forward in a daily meal routine.
Cherwell District Council created community food grants to support not-for-profit organisations in providing food for communities and developing activities involving cooking, growing or nutrition education.
The 2023/24 funding cycle for the grant has now closed. However, further information on Healthy Place Shaping support is available at www.cherwell.gov.uk/communities