Horden Corps' creative festive courses save Christmas cash
published on 20 Dec 2023
Tis’ the ‘seasoning’ to be jolly at Horden Salvation Army who put on Christmas cookery and crafting courses to help spread joy and reduce costs for people this festive season.
Teaming up with WEA, which provides adult learning courses, the church and charity hosted two free six-week courses - Cooking for Christmas and Christmas Crafty Creations - to help bring people together as well as provide invaluable tips on how to make dinner and decorations on a budget.
The evening courses ran until the end of last week and were well subscribed.
Angela Denton, Community Mission Facilitator at Horden Salvation Army, said: “At The Salvation Army, Christmas is about spreading comfort and joy so we wanted to offer something that not only brings people together and gets them in the festive spirit, but also helps in a more practical way with teaching new skills.
“People learned how to cook fabulous food ready for Christmas in a warm and friendly environment. The tutors looked at what foods go well together and suggested healthy options. Cooking a Christmas dinner can be an intimidating prospect so we hope people now feel more at ease with it and also picked up some tips on how to save money.
“The courses were in the early evening so children came with their parents and enjoyed doing something fun together, meeting new people and making decorations for their own Christmas tree or to give as gifts to family and friends.
“We know people are particularly worried this year about Christmas with the cost of living so we hope this helped to ease that burden by not only helping people gain skills they can then use over the festive period and beyond, but helping them save money as well as giving them a warm space to be.”
The courses were led by WEA, a charity providing adult learning skills to people across England and Scotland, who have taught many courses at Horden Salvation Army including Makaton (language programme), craft courses, gardening, food hygiene and first aid.
Angela continued: “The tutors were fantastic and we always get a good turnout for the courses that are put on at The Salvation Army.
“There was no fee as we are in an area of deprivation, so regardless of income everyone was welcome. Nobody knew If people work were in work or not, they all came together to celebrate Christmas.
“We have people from our church volunteering so it’s an opportunity for us to talk to people about other things that might interest them at Horden Salvation Army.”
As part of its Christmas Present Appeal Horden Salvation Army also provided gifts to 410 children who will now have something to open on Christmas morning and distributed 83 food parcels to families. For more information on Horden Salvation Army visit https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/horden or search on Facebook.
