QPR Community Trust Extends Healthy Eating Sessions
Report confirms benefit of Cook and Eat project for Phoenix Academy pupils
Children in Shepherd's Bush taking part in healthy eating sessions
The QPR Community Trust has confirmed that it is to continue its ‘Cook and Eat’ health sessions for local schoolchildren in partnership with Fulcrum.
This is the third year the project has been run and the news of its continuance comes as a new report underlines the social benefits the partnership has helped to deliver.
The children benefit from new cooking skills, healthy eating advice and improved health and wellbeing.
With local authority figures showing that more than a third of children in Hammersmith and Fulham are overweight or obese, Fulcrum and QPR Community Trust joined forces in 2019 to set up ‘Cook and Eat’ to help tackle local health issues and give local students the skills and confidence needed to cook healthy and nutritious meals.
The ‘Cook and Eat’ sessions have been managed by QPR Community Trust and teams from the Parkview Health Centre in Shepherd’s Bush – one of 6 west London health centres that West London Health Partnership has invested in.
Over the last two years, ‘Cook and Eat’ has been run as a free after-school club for Year 7, 8 and 9 students at Phoenix Academy in Hammersmith and Fulham, with more than 70 students taking part
Students were able to take home a booklet of key recipes, helping build on their learning experience and try out their new skills at home, with many parents saying that children were now cooking healthier foods at home for the family
New analysis of the ‘Cook and Eat’ sessions has shown it has been a hugely effective way of tackling local health priorities and improving students’ mental and physical health, with figures showing that for every £1 invested in the activities, there is over £4.50 of social value created.
Sinead Friel from QPR Community Trust said, “We are delighted to continue this partnership with Fulcrum. These sessions make a real difference to the young people and their families, teaching them skills which they can use throughout their lives.”
West London Health Partnership includes investment partner Fulcrum whose CEO Sarah Beaumont-Smith said, “Our health centres across West London already play a vital role in supporting community health but the ‘Cook and Eat’ sessions also allow us to tackle local health priorities head-on, teaching young people new skills and the importance of healthy eating to support their long-term well-being. QPR has a huge reach among the local community and offers us an important platform to continue supporting the health of local residents, so we are delighted to continue the ‘Cook and Eat’ sessions for a third year.”
QPR in the Community Trust aims to use the power and huge reach of the football club to develop an inclusive range of sporting, educational, cultural and social opportunities, improving the quality of life for individuals and neighbourhoods.
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September 13, 2021