Recipe for success! Cooking course allows for new beginnings

Community embarks on a new beginning with skills learnt from cooking on a budget course

A five-week cooking course with the aim to support low-income households to cook from scratch rather than relying on ready meals and takeaways has come to an end. 

Provided free of charge by The Salvation Army in order to help people escape poverty and designed to teach affordable, healthy cooking, the course took place at The Salvation Army in Openshaw with recipes including one-pot meals from typical cupboard staples, and occasionally food bank parcel classics, as more people than ever struggle to afford to make ends meet.

With ingredients and equipment provided by The Salvation Army, the cookery cohort, consisting of six people, made lasagne, curry, omelette and sausage rolls over the duration of the course with it concluding with a sweet treat, in this case the making and decorating of an Easter cheesecake. 

Teaching basic life skills and allowing people to feel empowered and rewarded, the programme helps eliminate food waste and promotes a healthier lifestyle at an affordable cost allowing for bulk cooking for individual households or hearty meals for families within a £5 budget. Each recipe at a fraction of the price of what it would be to feed a household from a takeaway, the cooking on a budget course strips everything back to learning basic skills and using natural ingredients. 

Julia Anyon, church leader of The Salvation Army in Openshaw said: “At a time when everyday prices are high and day to day life remains tough for many households, throwing in the pressure of having to rely on the expense of buying readymade meals or takeaways because the life skill of cooking has never been learnt, people can be pushed even further into poverty. 

“On the surface this course is all about cooking, learning and making money stretch, and whilst that is absolutely the case, it is also so much more than that. In many ways it is a new beginning for people! We have seen friendships made, households join together and tips shared meaning people are given the tools to change their life. It’s truly wonderful to be at the heart of the community and see all this in action.” 

Affectionately named The Salvation Army’s Victory Programme as it was inspired by the resilience and resourcefulness of the Second World War, the cooking on a budget course tackles food poverty, social isolation and boosts confidence with many people making friends as a result of taking part.

Key kitchen items such as table-top hobs, weighing scales, crockery, cutlery and fresh ingredients are all provided by the church and charity as part of the course and on completion each participant is given a certificate and gifted with a cooking tool, for example a frying pan, mixer, or utensils set. 

Historically members of the public that access The Salvation Army Openshaw’s food bank, charity shop, young adults with additional needs or people referred by a GP for mental health reasons have taken part in the course but to be part of the next course, which starts on the 6th May and takes place every Wednesday for five weeks at The Salvation Army Openshaw, located in Lime Square, self-referral is accepted; please email openshaw@salvationarmy.org.uk or call 0161 371 5044.