Eat Club is a London-based Charity that teaches young people, mostly aged 16-24, fundamental cooking and nutrition skills. We run bespoke cooking courses that are designed to develop the relationship young people have with food and address the underlying barriers to healthy eating, thus improving health, physical and mental wellbeing.
Many young people now-a-days lack the skills or knowledge of how to shop, cook and eat well leading to overweight, obesity and early onset of Type-2 Diabetes. The setting in which they eat is also linked to wellbeing and mental and physical health. Therefore, a frequent absence of family meals has been found to have a particular effect on young people, which is directly connected to negative behaviour and increased levels of youth offending.
To tackle these issues of health and wellbeing, Eat Club reconnects young people with the positive, healthy and pleasurable aspects of cooking and eating through the provision of convivial, bespoke cooking courses which improve physical health, social wellbeing and equip young people with the skills needed to eat well throughout their lives. The courses also promote tangible skills, which are valuable in the workplace and will help attendees when seeking employment.
Eat Club operates cooking and eating sessions in and around London in partnership with youth centres, youth hostels, community centres and schools, to name a few. We know that making young people feel comfortable, at home, competent and among friends - is key. We do this because we believe that delicious wholesome food, prepared and eaten together can help young people lead happier, healthier lives.
There is no cost to participation and each session ends with a communal meal where we collectively enjoy the fruits of our labour. Courses are normally six to ten weeks long and we often see our numbers increase after a couple of weeks as centre users see their friends participating, and increasingly see the Eat Club staff as friendly faces.
