The Kids' Cookery School's mission is to give every child in the UK a unique and fun cooking experience in order to help them make informed choices about food and an understanding around health and diet.
Started in 2000, the charity has worked with over 110,000 children, young people and families across London, many of whom may have severe physical and learning disabilities, behavioural problems or been excluded from mainstream education.
KCS is a unique cookery school: we teach around 2,500 students each year how to cook and eat healthy food.
We have purpose-built teaching kitchens in Acton, West London, where the majority of our practical cookery projects take place. At KCS we believe that all children should have the opportunity to learn cookery and we welcome students with special needs (physical, learning or behavioural). Our premises are fully wheelchair accessible.
We provide fun, informative cookery classes and workshops, delivered by our highly trained KCS chefs, where students get the chance to prepare and cook delicious recipes from scratch combined with vital nutritional information. We teach children aged 3-16 years, regardless of background, learning or physical ability, how to cook. Our workshops are completely inclusive and our purpose-built teaching kitchen is designed and equipped to meet the needs of all children, especially those with special needs and disabilities, as we strongly believe every child deserves the opportunity to learn about food, where it grows and how to eat a healthy balanced diet. We also specialise in working with students who have been socially excluded, excluded from mainstream education and those with severe behavioural problems. Over 45% of our students are from black, minority or refugee groups.
In addition to our cookery school, in 2009 we rolled out our first mobile pop-up kitchen; KCS-on-Wheels, which is a mobile cooking facility. KCS-on-Wheels allows us to go out and deliver hands-on cookery sessions at any given venue or space with minimal requirements. Being mobile allows us to reach out to more students, serve the most deprived and indigent areas in the UK and give those the opportunity to cook, who would not usually have access to this experience.
We also run cookery classes and workshops from our HQ during the school holidays and take bookings for birthday parties at the weekends. Over 60% of all students KCS teaches are funded through grants, donations, trusts and foundations. Without this generosity, KCS would not be able to support and help these children and their families who would otherwise not be able to access our services and learn these vital life skills. KCS empowers all students to take control of their own lives by understanding the importance of what they eat and drink and the long-lasting impact it will have on their lives in the future.
