Cooks from the Ministry of Food with a group of participants who learnt about dishing up tasty treats

Jamie Oliver’s cooks show Stratford residents how to dish up tasty recipes

Kay Atwal, Chief Reporter Thursday, January 3, 2013
1:46 PM

Housing association residents joined parents and staff to learn about preparing tasty, healthy and simple food.

They were attending an event run at Amber Court, an extra care unit for adults and part of Genesis Housing Association’s landmark development, Stratford Halo.

Cooks from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food taught participants, including parents from Carpenters Primary School, how to prepare tasty, healthy and simple festive recipes.

The event also celebrated the start of a new partnership between the Ministry of Food Stratford, Leaside Food and Genesis Community, who together, will be providing 12 unemployed Stratford Halo residents with a full, two-month cookery course at the University of East London’s Stratford campus. These classes will improve residents’ employment prospects, as it will give them National OCN accreditation, as well as make them more confident about their culinary skills at home.

Residents can apply to the course via Richard Sharp, Genesis Volunteering Programme Manager. He said: “Genesis Community are excited to be working in partnership with the Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food Stratford. This course will provide residents with increased opportunities to improve their skills and employability, and we’re looking forward to seeing the tasty recipes they come up with.”

Carlos Montes, from Jamie’s Ministry of Food Stratford, said: “We are delighted to work with Genesis to support the development of culinary skills in Stratford. It runs innovative programmes to enrich local communities. We are proud to partner with Genesis in delivering cooking classes to local people and deliver a tangible social legacy to Stratford residents”.