Sure Start Speke

We are swamped with initiatives and marketing that intends to tackle the massive conundrum that is healthy eating. But in deprived communities how practical is it? And if it doesn't add value to a family's life and is not fun, why do it?

National schemes such a "five a Day" have had £millions pumped into them across the country. Like many other regeneration initiatives, it exists with varying degrees of success.

From our experience, much of what is advised as part of the plethora of initiatives can only have a brief impact. It is then down to the choice of the individual to convert the knowledge into useful practise. and choice is the big factor in this whole "healthy" debate, because what is apparent is that if you have the resources, money, shops, variety etc, to buy and choose healthy food you are more likely to join in. If you don't have these resources how can it possibly be a viable option?

At Surestart Speke we decide to join in and take the practical route. Firstly, we created a community cafe which introduced new food and food styles into one of the most deprived communities in the UK. then wanting to go a step further, we partnered with the local PCT and Taste for Health to create a cookery course to parents - many of whom had yet to even consider that cooking at home, could be a "want to do", fun and healthy option.

It's a solid first step and later this year we will produce our first cookery book which will proudly sit alongside those of the celebrities, in bookshops and on bookshelves across the country. Then we are going to create jobs for some of the parents who have trained with us - and finally we are going to grow a catering business that appears in new communities, spreading the abilities of our staff and practically talking and taking up the simple skills that will embed cookery into the psyches of hundreds maybe even thousands of households - that's our mission and if we get there that would be a story to tell. Our new Can Cook website will be available soon where we will demonstrate our successes so far.