We have a keen interest from our widespread community to deliver Well-being and Baking Workshops; more so due to spiralling energy costs at home, social isolation, increase in poor mental health and lack of good quality food education in schools. Individual workshops are led by both our female Cooking School Lead and a male Qualified Chef with many years experience and we have built on the success of previous programs of delivery, targeting those most in need. Workshops take place both at our purpose built community kitchen based in the Coop Centre, just a 10 minute walk from Sunderland City Centre, and also outreach in community settings in all 5 areas of the City.

What we'll deliver:

• Provide 50 x well-being baking sessions across all 5 areas of Sunderland (up to 300 participants)
• Provide a warm safe space at our community kitchen
• Provide a sense of community cohesion and inclusion

Why it's a great idea:

Our Community Well-being & Baking Workshops have numerous benefits as we engage with marginalised communities, including, but not limited to those who are : - Asylum Seekers and Refugees - Neurodiverse -People with disabilities - Carers - Young Carers - Young people and adults experiencing poor mental health - Youth groups -Survivors of domestic abuse -People facing barriers and disadvantages The sessions will help particularly in the present economic climate and provide : -Numerous learning opportunities, teach baking skills, well-being and mindfulness, understand how to cook affordable meals from scratch, - Encourage family activities and engagement - Reduce social isolation by bringing the community together, particularly individuals who live alone. -These sessions can be cross- generational and help develop social connectedness , improve mental health and reduce loneliness.

Steps to get it done:

• deliver community wellbeing and baking workshops to up to 300 adults and young people
• recruit 1 volunteer
• purchase ingredients
• recruit local community groups and youth groups for outreach workshop venues

Studies show that baking is a great tool to help people de-stress and offers an antidote to feelings of anxiety. The precision involved – measuring, cracking, kneading, rolling, mixing, stirring – calms us and forces us to be in the moment rather than worrying about what’s happening outside and what’s going to happen in the future. We recently surveyed a group of adults we had worked with, and 100% of respondents said they would take part in Bake She.d workshops, 72% of these adults experience low mood and anxiety, 55% are socially isolated and 55% have low self-esteem. We surveyed families who children attended our school holiday workshops and 100% of parents and carers said the workshops were well organised, 100% said based upon your child's/children's experience in the cooking workshops, would they like to attend another further school holiday workshops, 100% said would you be interested in attending parent and child cooking workshops.