Last week, Millwall Community Trust, alongside The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, hosted the last ‘Kick and Cook’ session at Riverside Primary School.
The programme was delivered to children aged between ten and eleven in conjunction with the local Primary Care trusts and the National Healthy Schools programme.
The aim was to help children develop a healthy relationship between diet and exercise by engaging them in physical activity and helping them develop lifelong cooking skills with top-class chef, Ashley Marsh.
“The first session was just before Christmas,” said Chef Marsh.
“The children learned about taste, the senses, and the food groups. Then we moved on to the second session, where they learned knife skills and how to respect a knife and make a healthy salad.
“Finally, we made a tomato and basil soup with them using their knife skills, their techniques, using their senses, and they can take that away with them.
“They did really well, a few of them were crying over the onions, but whether that was because it was my last session I don’t know!”
MCT plans to take the ‘Kick and Cook’ programme to multiple schools in the area to help young children understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
Sean Daly, CEO of the Trust, said: “The cookery sessions ran by Ashley have been fantastic. He has taught them so much in the past three sessions and has opened a conversation about leading healthy lifestyles that they can have with their families.
“Our MCT coaches have also done a great job at helping them understand how exercise helps maintain a healthier life and have shown just how much fun it can be!
“The kids have left these sessions now knowing how to prepare their meals, use the ingredients they buy, use their senses to test the quality of food, and so much more.
We can’t wait to take these sessions to more schools as we help tackle the issues surrounding children who lead unhealthy lifestyles."
