Katie is one of 10 people who have joined the Oakfield Cookery Club, taking place every Monday in Liverpool. The club was setup as a way to complement other activities at Oakfield, promoting and celebrating positive health and wellbeing.

We spoke to Katie about how the club came about, and what it means to those attending, she told us:

We were already doing lots of fitness and things like that. We do yoga, we do walks and go to the gym. We love to be active and so we decided we need to focus on the food we put in our bodies too, because that’s such an important part of being healthy and strong.

The day service we have is in a Church community hall, and we only have access to the kitchen space on a Monday, so we decided that would be the day to hold our cooking club.

What makes the group important?

For me personally, a balanced diet is very important as I have Type 1 Diabetes, which I self-manage using a Libre patch and an app on my phone. This means I’m always aware of my blood sugar levels and can do things like taking exercise when they’re too high, or eating the right types of foods when there is a dip.

As a group, we decide together what we’ll make. Sometimes we do research to get inspiration, or other times one of us already has a good idea. We look up recipes, make ingredient lists and we do the shopping on a Friday. Then we store the ingredients in the Church fridge over the weekend ready for Monday morning.

Everyone has a role to play. We all take turns with each step of the process of making a meal so that we all learn together, and then we have the ability to make the dishes at home so we can share them with others.

What we’ve been making

This week we set ourselves a challenge of making lots of different sandwiches. This is because most days when we come to the service, we bring our own packed lunches, and often we get support to make sandwiches from support staff or family members. But by learning the skills to make a great butty, and trying different fillings, it gives us the confidence and independence to do it for ourselves. We’ve also decided that next week we’ll be making a curry and accompaniments like rice and naan bread. Who doesn’t love a curry?

The difference it makes

The Oakfield group is a great bunch of people, and the cooking group has done loads for my confidence in the kitchen. I can do more at home now and help my parents making meals, which makes them really happy too.

And it’s more than just cooking meals. We’ve learned skills that are important in other areas too. Using kitchen tools and managing the cooking of a good meal needs skills like co-ordination, time management, and memory.

It’s also improved our teamworking. We all work together to create the best result and then we all clean up together afterwards, leaving the kitchen exactly as we found it.

It’s a really worthwhile and enjoyable thing is cookery. I look forward to it every week and I think more people should give it a go.

If you’d like to find out more about United Response’s Community Services in your local area, click the following link: Community services – United Response