MUMS on a mission to rid their estate of convenience food are turning to cyberspace to pass on their recipe for success.

Inspired by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Pass it On Campaign, a group of mums from the Washacre estate in Westhoughton, have been busy teaching their friends and families to cook.

Now they are passing their message to a wider audience via the internet having set up a Facebook page — called Kensa Group — featuring recipes and advice, and are staging their own cooking classes in schools and community centres in a bid to get more people cooking.

The five mums came together when Gaynor Ratcliffe from Bolton Community College and Marilyn Holmes from Bolton Primary Care Trust started community cooking classes at the college’s site in Westhoughton.

They have since reached out to 27 other mums in the area with their own Pass It On crusade, teaching quick, healthy recipes — just like Oliver did in his television series Jamie’s Ministry Of Food.

They even invited the chef to their club.

The mums who call themselves Kensa — made-up by using the first initial of their name — are also applying for funding to build a teaching kitchen at Westhoughton Community Learning Centre, and are planning to write a cookery book featuring dishes costing no more than a ‘fiver’.

Miss Ratcliffe said: “The premise for Pass It On is fantastic, involving members of deprived areas of the community and showing them how they can cook healthy, nutritious meals for their families on a budget.

“I believe it is something that needs to happen right across the UK. The problem that Jamie faced was that he brought a group of strangers together who were lacking in self confidence and they did not believe in themselves enough to go out and teach others the recipes.

“What myself and Marilyn have done, is to combine top notch cookery tuition with confidence lessons and healthy eating classes, giving people from a similar area and social setting, a solid grounding to feel confident in their ability to teach other people.”

Mum Kelly Partington, aged 25, said: “The classes are really simple and easy to follow, which makes it even easier to teach other people. I feel confident that I can tell my friends about the dishes and make them understand the importance of giving your kids a healthy meal.

“Hopefully our own kids will take more of an interest in healthy cooking too, passing on the message not just through friends, but through generations.”

Picture
Mums involved in Kensa, a group which encourages families to buy and cook fresh fruit and vegetables. From front left, Nicky Ward, Emma Cornwell, Kirsty Burrows, second row from left, Wendy Shephard, Kelly Partington, Sam Swift, Steph Barnett, with community development facilitator Gaynor Ratcliffe, back left, and community nutrition worker, Marilyn Holmes

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