Resilience Leamington Business Awards Finalist!

Get Cooking! has been chosen as a finalist in the Leamington Business Awards! I am so chuffed and honoured to be included.

Covid 19 has had interesting impact on my business.

Initially it was heart wrenching cancelling events, the feeling of letting certain community groups down and thinking of all the hard work put into organising workshops, festivals, group lessons and other celebrations.

I did my best to carry on until I had no choice.  The last event I did was dropping off weighed ingredients for a golden anniversary so a family could still have some sort of celebration.

I knew things were going to be tough for many families. I started doing facebook lives on how to cook on a budget and make the most of essential store cupboard ingredients. They were very popular but I found it hard to interact with people and it was the human contact I was also missing.

I then decided to move over to Zoom and offered the cooking lessons free of charge so they were accessible to most people although I was conscious not everyone has enough data to access them, so carried on with useful hints and tips on the my social media channels, which I have always done.

Between March and the end of July I provided around 30 free Zoom lessons with up to 12-15 participants.  They included families and individuals on their own not seeing anyone for weeks on end.  It was great to see the rappore develop between them and wanting to know how everyone was getting on.  The confidence of the children cooking was amazing to see. 

At the start everyone scrambling around in the kitchen watching intently while I showed them new skills. By the end they were confidently chopping and cooking away and creating conversation between them.  It was great fun and really helped me to know what day of the week it was and make me keep on top of my kitchen cleaning!

It was great to provide some classes for local and national charities to help keep them feeling connected. I organised a fakeaway event to raise funds for Leamington and Warwick Foodbank.  We made a curry using typical ingredients using Foodbank parcel and participants donated the cost a takeaway to Foodbank. I have a ginger biscuit event organised for Saturday December 12th too.

Providing health and well being workshops for companies nationwide has been very rewarding. Staff having some fun time and down time with colleagues while they are all working from home.

I have created over 50 online paid group events since August. I do offer discounts and free places to those who are struggling financially and families I have worked with. 

I am really looking forward to December with a range of traditional Christmas baking workshops.  I have a lot corporate bookings already and baking made from them will be distributed in some doorstep deliveries to those who are on their own or in need of cheering up.  Over the summer it was lovely leaving little afternoon tea parcels everywhere!

WHO ARE COOKING LESSONS AIMED AT?

My online classes are suitable for all ages and aim is to bring people together through food. My philosophy has always to start with real ingredients and create something tasty with them.  Yes recipes are provided but I encourage my attendees to think about how they can be adapted to what is actually in our cupboards and in season.  I have an emphasis on economical and easy to make food that all the family will enjoy. I have a sustainable approach to cooking. Hate waste!

I teach a wide range of cooking lessons from healthy comfort food to indulgent baking. Majority of my lessons are vegetarian and vegan (albeit a few with tweaks). I do my best to include all dietary requirements.

My lessons start at £10 an hour, they are live and interactive.  I can provide bespoke lessons for groups of individuals and provide health and well being cooking classes for work colleagues to enable them to have some fun and learn new skills while working from home.

Covid 19 has allowed me to reach out to more people and as much as I can’t wait to get back to face to face lessons in my kitchen and in the community, cooking on Zoom will be part of my business going forward.  It allows people of all ages who cannot get out easily, uncomfortable in group situations or live remotely to access good quality live interactive learning. 

If you are reading this and taken part in any of the online workshops over the last 9 months I really appreciate your support. Thank you reading and hope to provide you with a cooking experience soon!