Basic cooking courses were introduced following local people's concerns around their diets and lack of knowledge of how to cook healthier family meals from basic ingredients. A partnership, including 3Gs, WEA and Genesis project support the delivery of the longest running group. They meet once a week at the Busy Bee Centre, Gurnos, and are supported by a creche. Groups continue to receive support from Dowlais Forum and The 3Gs

Members of the group have achieved OCN level 1 and 2 accreditation, and have moved on from basic cooking to cook foods from other parts of the world, e.g. mediterranean, oriental. Members of the group have also attended other courses such as Basic Food Hygiene certificate, I.T. and pre-employment courses in retail and nursing assistant, as well as workshops to help build confidence and self-esteem.

A core of women from the group have been able to put their new skills into practice by volunteering to prepare cold buffets and BBQs for local events. Funds raised have been placed back into the group to help pay for equipment and ingredients.

Following the success of this group in engaging people, then supporting and moving on, cooking courses were run in two other locations, all of which were free of charge:

Information Shop group - A smaller group, due to the size of the facilities, with the same courses being delivered and other opportunities highlighted. No creche available due to the premises.

Dowlais Trax group - Created on the same basis as the Gurnos Cooking group. The men and women cooking group in Trax carried out basic cooking and were OCN accredited.

As a taster of what the groups have cooked up, below you'll find some handy recipes for some delicious, simple to make dishes:

Make rice more interesting!

Chicken curry

Ginger biscuits

Fruit cake