Cookbook project helps sheltered housing residents to share memories and eat well
Residents of three local sheltered housing schemes have been sharing their family recipes as part of a Winchester City Council funded project to combat loneliness and boost healthy eating.
As part of the Memories and Munch initiative, sheltered housing residents shared their stories about food and tried out new recipes, all the while learning new cooking techniques to help them create low-cost healthy meals.
The project has seen Mary Carlton of Munch CIC and Life Story Writer Rachel Lewis work with residents through a series of workshops to collect recipes and memories and explore fresh ideas for sharing food and cooking together.
Those recipes, as well as stories and pictures from residents, have been collated into three cookbooks, which were presented to each of the three sheltered housing schemes.
Speaking about the initiative, Eve Kimpton, a resident at Richard Moss House, said:
“When Mary mentioned old recipes I thought, ‘oh, that bread pudding recipe might be perfect’. In the war it was used for the soldiers’ wedding cakes and my mum, who was also called Eve, used to make it.
“This is my first time seeing the cookbook and it’s absolutely amazing - I love seeing my mum and dad, and my friends, in the pictures on the pages. Other people will see it and hopefully enjoy it as well. It was so nice taking part in the project and learning something new from Mary even though I am 81.”
Munch CIC’s Mary Carlton said:
“Our aim was to improve participants’ confidence in the kitchen. All the new recipes we included in the cookbook had to be easily prepared with affordable ingredients. We also focused on batch cooking, not only to reduce food waste but also recognising that not everybody is able to cook every day. With these dishes, participants could still enjoy a healthy homemade meal, avoiding the expense of ready meals.”
Winchester City Council Cabinet member for Good Homes Cllr Mark Reach said:
“It was a joy to join Mary, Rachel and our sheltered housing residents at Richard Moss House last week for the presentation of their new cookbook. Speaking to everyone there it’s been plain to see happiness, passion and sharing of memories that this project has inspired and I’m glad we’ve been able to support it with through our grant funding”