A group that has been running to combat physical and mental wellbeing issues in Westhoughton has been deemed a huge success.
The slow cooker course has been helping people in the area to eat healthily for less and provided much-needed social interaction for residents who may have felt lonely during the winter months.
The course, that was situated at The Hub Westhoughton, was organised by social prescribing link workers at Bolton GP Federation in association with Westhoughton Assist – a local community food shop.
Social prescribing helps people to connect with community groups and activities that provide non-medical support for mental and physical health and wellbeing.
GPs, social workers, and other health and care staff are using social prescribing to support people’s wider health and wellbeing, focusing on the whole person, their life and circumstances rather than concentrating on a particular illness.
One social prescriber, Julie, said: “We are prescribing health and wellbeing. Improving people’s quality of life.
“We’ve got quite a few elderly people who are on their own. It’s trying to get it workable to get them out, get them to do something meaningful, meet other people, and keep warm.”
The course helped with tips, recipes, and basic cooking skills.
At the end of the course, participants came away with a file of recipes and ideas for easy meals to make at home, plus their very own slow cooker.
Alison, another of the social prescribers, added: “The slow cooker is a cheaper way of cooking. We’ve looked at different cuts of meat, we’ve looked at frozen vegetables. Where to shop.
“Hopefully they’ve enjoyed it – I think they’ve enjoyed it.”
Kathleen’s husband died in 2022, so the sessions have provided her with social opportunities as well as learning new skills.
She said: “They just made me so welcome when I came in and I look forward to it every week.
“And I’ve made friends, which I what I needed.”
The group has continued to meet socially every week, even after the course finished, to share ideas and new recipes.
Another attendee, Keith, said: “You can’t not say how important it is for people that do live on their own because nobody, nobody really knows what it’s like to be lonely.
“In winter you’ve nothing. There are times when you’ve nothing to get out of bed for.
“It’s given me something to go to and somewhere to go.”
Eating regularly and having at least one hot meal a day can help people to keep warm and stay well during the winter.
Westhoughton Assist found that there were always lots of vegetables leftover in the community shop because people didn’t know how to cook them.
Lots of slow cooker recipes are a one pot meal, combining meat, carbohydrate and vegetables, so will encourage many people to have a more balanced diet.
With energy bills on the rise, a slow cooker is cost effective too as it uses just a little more energy than a traditional light bulb, according to Uswitch.
If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at lewis.finney@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @lewisfinney18.
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