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Food for thought to help the cost of living

Food for Thought session being held in the Discover Centre. Staff from Lily and Careline with Chef Stacey Martin.

Published: Friday, 23rd September 2022

Free food sessions to help King’s Lynn residents trying to make ends meet, due to increasing food costs, have returned.

Lily, a service that is owned and managed by the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, is organising the interactive sessions with partners Freebridge Housing Association and the College of West Anglia from external funding received from The East Coast Community Fund.

‘Food for thought’ sessions are held most Fridays between 9:30am and 11:30am at North Lynn’s Discovery Centre to help residents cook healthy and nutritious meals on a budget as well as tasting sessions and blind taste tests, comparing alternatives to some of the costly big brands.

West Norfolk residents are able to take away skills that help them cook on a budget, find cheaper supermarket swaps, batch cook, make healthy “fake-away” meals and learn how to make meals go further.

Sam Sandell, Cabinet member for people and communities at the borough council, said:

“It’s good to see these sessions return following the success of the previous course. The cost of living will affect many of our residents over the coming months. These free to attend sessions mean that people can drop-in to them occasionally and pick up handy tips about how to cook healthy and tasty food without breaking the bank.

“The weekly two-hour sessions are flexible, if you only have half an hour spare please pop in, grab a coffee and take advantage of the advice being offered.”

Sophie Bates, Director of Customer and Communities at Freebridge Community Housing, added:

“Earlier this year Freebridge published our first Neighbourhood Plan – the North Lynn Community Plan – which outlines a number of commitments we have made to help improve the health and wellbeing of residents in North Lynn.

“Through the plan, we have agreed actions that we can deliver together with our partners to achieve significant and meaningful benefits for the community, and the work we’re doing with Lily, the borough council and the College of West Anglia is a great example of this."

Stacey Martin, Catering Lecturer at the College of West Anglia, who is cooking and sharing advice at the sessions said:

“The aim of these sessions is to help people budget better, eat healthier, learn a new skill whilst providing an opportunity for people in their local community to meet. We welcome people in the community to come and join us to cook, chat, taste and share recipes with one another."

Free sessions take place on the following Fridays from 9.30am to 11.30am. There’s no need to book in advance, just turn up.

  • 23/9/22 - Lunches
  • 30/9/22 - Dinners
  • 7/10/22 - Homemade snacks
  • 14/10/22 - Nutritional content
  • 4/11/22 - Supermarket swaps
  • 11/11/22 - Batch cooking
  • 18/11/22 - Dietary alternatives
  • 25/11/22 - Low calorie cooking
  • 2/12/22 - Low cost desserts
  • 9/12/22 - Fake-away meals
  • 16/12/22 - Seasonal savings

For more information please either email asklily@west-norfolk.gov.uk or telephone Lily on 01553 616200.

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