Salvation Army in Maldon cooking up a storm

Families in Maldon looking to cook healthy food on a budget are being given a helping hand at the town’s Salvation Army church.

The family cooking course is aimed at people lacking confidence or experience in the kitchen and students have already turned their hand to tempting treats including meatballs in tomato sauce, minestrone soup and chicken katsu curry.

Julie McGeachy, a semi-retired GP, volunteers on the course, run in conjunction with CVS Maldon.

She said: “We’ve been running our Soup Stop here for more than a year where people can enjoy fresh soup, a roll, a hot drink and a pudding for just a few pounds. Being able to do something like this in a cost of living crisis inspired us to think about how else we could help people make things cheaply.

“The course has been brilliant.  It’s humbling to see how they have gained in experience and confidence, making things they never have before. It’s worth it just to see the expressions on their face when they achieve something and its great to offer community support for families.”

Lucy Mynard has been attending the course and says it has already made a huge difference to her family.

She said: “I’ve got a fussy family. My husband has to eat low fat foods and one of my children has a dairy allergy, so I sometimes end up doing separate dinners. I’d lost so much confidence and just ended up doing the same old thing. I wanted to get some new ideas and try and find a meal we could all eat.

“I made the chicken katsu curry last week and they loved it. I’m now looking up more recipes to try and I have more confidence to try and adapt. I can now cook sauces which I can add to other things – it’s been a really good eye opener and you get to take the food home and equipment home afterwards!”

Church leader Lieutenant Jon Doyle said he was delighted at the course.

He commented: “We’ve been so pleased to work with Maldon CVS again to offer this opportunity. We’ve worked hard to find, budget friendly, family friendly, healthy and tasty meals and the feedback has been positive.

“We know that there are already families wanting to participate in another course like this, but we are also looking at how we may be able to support other parts of the community too, particularly those living on their own. So often in the bible you see Jesus sitting down with friends sharing a meal. In supporting people to cook we hope we can offer them the opportunity to do the same.”