Newcastle community charity receives funding to provide healthy eating demos

A Newcastle community charity has received a grant to deliver a series of cookery demonstrations to help inspire residents to eat healthily on a low budget.

Healthworks, supports people of all ages to enable them to lead longer, happier and healthier lives, and aims to preserve, protect and improve health and life outcomes across North East England.

The funding has been provided through the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation, which offers grants to charities and community groups located in or around the communities served by the Society’s branch network.

Healthworks is using a £2,980 grant to organise a series of eight cookery demonstrations and workshops for people from the local community to help inspire them with ideas and techniques for how they can eat more healthily on a low budget.

The sessions will mostly take place at Healthworks’ premises in the West End of the city. Participants will also get the chance to earn recognised Level Two food hygiene accreditations through their involvement with the project, which could help them find employment in the future.

Kath English, director of health promotion at Healthworks, said: “The sessions have been designed to offering practical inspiration and ideas for incorporating healthy eating into everyday meal planning and preparation, while also promoting the health and lifestyle benefits that go along with it.

“Offering a recognised qualification as part of the project provides an extra incentive for people to get involved and ties in with the holistic approach that we look to take towards supporting local families.

“There’s usually a cost attached to providing the accreditation element of this project, so being able to use the Society’s funding to offer both this and the wider course free of charge is a real boost to both our work and the well-being of the many families that are taking part.”

Samantha Martlew, manager at Newcastle Building Society’s West Denton branch, added: “Healthworks is doing fantastic work in improving the health, well-being and prospects of people living across our home city and it’s great for us to be supporting a project that will deliver so many long-term benefits.”

As well as running group activities like the healthy eating workshops, Healthworks also provides bespoke one-to-one support tailored to individuals’ different lifestyle and health needs, including diabetes, blood pressure and weight management, and works in a number of schools across the city to reach younger residents.

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