Cost of living: how a Preston social enterprise is using First World War cooking tricks to cope with soaring food prices

"How can we help people in our community survive the winter?"

That's the question leaders at The Larder in Preston are hoping to solve by offering six months of workshops showing people how to cook.

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What’s going on?

"We know that many low-income families will have to make the choice between heating and eating this winter", said Kay Johnson, Larder founder and director, and driving force behind the reative Community Kitchen.

"We are responding to what people are telling us and we have to do it now, there is an urgency to begin before winter.

"We don't know of anybody else doing something, so we thought 'let's get on and do it".

But in order to “do it”, the group needs to find £30,000 to cover costs, although Kay insists they will begin on October 25 even if they only have the first instalment of money.

She added: "We're building on what we've been doing for a long time", said Kay, a nutritionist who has been working to address issues around food insecurity for the last seven.

"We're also looking to learn from ways of the past that have been successful, so models from the First World War including the National Kitchen".

The National Kitchen was an Government initiative to feed people cheaply and economically at a time when food supplies were scarce because of the German U-boat campaign.

Kay admitted the hark back 100 years was "depressing", but said: "That's where we find ourselves".

So how will it work?

The programme will be delivered over six months from the Larder Café kitchen in Lancaster Road, where experienced Food Champions will offer cook and eat sessions to people from marginalised communities in Preston.

The two- hour cooking sessions will run twice a day, three days per week from October 25 to April 22. Each course will run for six weeks, allowing the team to deliver 24 courses over the six month period .

Participants will be able to take meals home for the family to try, they will receive an energy saving thermal cooking bag which will help to reduce fuel bills, and meals cooked on site will be available to creative session participants also attending the Larder to buy for a small donation.

In total, Kay and her team believe they have the capacity to create 6,000 meals over the six month period.

Why do this?

Kay believes that cooking is a "lost art" due to several factors, but not about class.

She said: "People don't learn to cook at school. Nobody's taught them and it's become a cultural thing, not to cook.

"When we get people in, we quite often get people remembering what they used to cook with their grandparents and ask them what they enjoyed.

"It brings back lovely memories and we try to build on that. It's a positive and empowering thing."

What do they need to achieve this?

"We're looking to companies to help because we can't wait for the time it takes to go through grant funding processes", said Kay.

Anyone who is interested in helping is asked to call Kay on 07718901813 or email her at: [email protected]