Young person cooking with Gousto
SASH Active – SASH Eats Project
The young people we help in Supported Lodgings have many identified support needs to contend with – isolation, low self-esteem, poor educational attainment and mental health concerns to name just a few. SASH Active offers experiences and opportunities to help address these issues: connecting with other members of their community, gaining new skills and meeting new people.
The SASH Eats project which is part of SASH Active programme has been a huge success with a focus on learning how to cook but also the knowledge and skills of how to cook safely. The majority of young people when they join SASH have limited or no knowledge or skills around cooking, budgeting, healthy choices and food hygiene. To enhance their skills and knowledge whilst in Supported Lodgings SASH Eats has fulfilled this need and more. Healthy eating is also becoming harder to maintain due to delays in universal credit, money from CSS and college bursaries.
We are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to team up with Gousto the meal kit provider who have provided meal boxes for our young people to try. Each kit contains all the ingredients and a recipe card to cook a healthy and nutritious meal for the young person and their host.
“I’ve really enjoyed cooking the Gousto recipes, although I could cook before, this has really helped me to develop my skills further. My host and I sometimes struggle to come up with new ideas but with this, I’ve felt really motivated to plan my meals for the week and have looked forward to preparing them. It’s brought new, easy recipes to my attention – meals we probably wouldn’t have tried before and flavours and ingredients we wouldn’t have thought to use – we’ve loved the outcome. Some of the recipes we really weren’t expecting to turn out well – like the homemade baked beans – have been delicious! My favourite so far has been the fish cakes. I’ve done some of the cooking with my host but mostly I’ve prepared the meals on my own and given her a break from cooking – she says ‘it’s been marvellous and I’ve loved it’! I am hoping to go to Middlesbrough College in September to do a catering course – previously this is something I wouldn’t have considered.” Max*, 17
Alongside the Gousto boxes we are proud to have been able to offer all SASH young people who want to learn more about Food Hygiene, Kitchen Safety, and Identifying Nutritional Food the opportunity to attend Coast Tuition training sessions online and in-person. They will receive a certificate of attendance and SASH will include this achievement in their Outcome Star, Placement Review, and Moving on Report.
Our SASH Eats project has been made possible by funding by Two Ridings Community Foundation Bettys and Taylors Family Fund and Children in Need. Projects like SASH Eats are instrumental in helping to make young people feel more confident, broaden their horizons and gain new aspirations.
If you would like to find out more or discuss any of our SASH Active projects please email Sash.Active@sash-uk.org.uk for more details.
*Name changed
