Sheffield charity Element Society set to provide 1,800 healthy meal packs and cooking tutorials for families through Chef’s Circle project

Shaun Davies, Chef Circle adviser at Element Society

Sheffield-based charity Element Society has raised funding to teach cost-of-living kitchen skills and provide ingredients for 1,800 meal packs.

Pioneered during lockdown, the project was originally funded to give young people the kitchen skills to cook from scratch, so they were able to help support their families with healthier food options.

The project was such a success, Element has been successful in crowd-funding an updated extension of the project during the current cost of living crisis.

“We are extremely grateful to those who donated to support the project extension. Aviva's Cost of Living Fund with additional support from BA’s Better World and Co-Operative’s Warm Spaces Fund have together match-funded the project, enabling us to exceed our funding objectives," commented Element’s business development manager Cleo Metcalf.

Chris Hill [centre] , CEO of Element Society with some of the charity’s young people

“The whole Element team is thrilled to get the opportunity to work with so many community groups and funders to support some of the most vulnerable young people in our city in such a practical way.

"We know many of the young people we work with are worried about the cost of food and energy required to cook it in their households right now. Chef's Circle provides instructional videos and learning resources which enable families to cook on a budget.

"Each family will receive a food package with ingredients to feed up to four people. They will also receive a Chef's Circle recipe book with instructions to cook the meals and a QR code to the instructional videos. Online, they'll also be able to get tips and tricks on how to save money in the kitchen, prepare ingredients and learn a little bit about kitchen hygiene.”

With a background in restaurants and the arts, Shaun Davies is the project adviser for Chef’s Circle. He said: “This week I am busy creating new online recipes backed up by tutorial videos on YouTube, showing young people the tips and tricks to prepare food safely and speedily. Post-Pandemic, we have taken inspiration from successful commercial food box delivery schemes by providing parcels with world recipes to inspire and nourish young people and their families.

"We’re aware that there are many families who are struggling in the current crisis. We are currently contacting other charities and community groups in order to help us target our support beyond Element’s young people, to others who also need it the most. If you know of young people who would benefit from a Chef’s Circle delivery, or would like to offer your time to pack or deliver these parcels, we would love you to get in touch with us.”

Element is a not-for-profit organisation based in Sheffield City centre, which has supported over 4000 young people to volunteer over 200,000 hours to make a difference in their own lives and communities.

Call Element on 0114 2999 210. Email Shaun [email protected] search @makedoughUK on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.