Camberwell Arts Festival Fundraiser

Saturday’s fundraiser at Camberwell Arts Festival was a big success! There was live music, craft stalls and art workshops. The Mini Cooking Club was in the middle of it all selling homemade cakes, breads and biscuits to raise funds for our organisation. 

It took a little while to build up momentum but by mid-afternoon there was quite a crowd. The most popular item was the rich chocolate and guinness cake, baked by one of our members, followed closely by the banana bread. 

When we finally packed away the marquee – which was threatening to blow away in the gale - all the cakes left on the table had been sold. We received a number of enquiries about our work and even an offer to volunteer or two.

The donations have not been counted yet but the support was overwhelming, despite adverse weather conditions. More pictures will be uploaded to Facebook soon! 

We’d like to thank Kelly O’Reilly (Camberwell Arts Festival) for giving us this opportunity. We also thank all the Mini Cooking Club volunteers who lent their time and baking skills to help us raise money for our vital work in the community. 

The festival continues until June 23rd with many more events to come! It would be great if everyone showed their support for the local area by attending. 

By Catherine Heath

The Mini Cooking Club Fundraiser: Camberwell Art Festival Bake Sale

The Mini Cooking Club is pleased to announce our latest fundraising event. We are running a charity bake sale in partnership with Camberwell Arts Festival (15^th-23^rd June). It is a yearly celebration of all things cultural in the area. 

 The Mini Cooking Club stall will be on 15^th June, run by Cecilia, Catherine and Jessica.

We are looking for volunteers who want to contribute their baking skills. If you enjoy making cakes, biscuits, flapjacks, meringues, scones or anything delicious we would appreciate the help. Please deliver them from 11am onwards to Camberwell Green, SE5 7AN. Look for The Mini Cooking Club stall.

Join us for the Art Picnic to kick off the festival, involving art, cake and conversation.  Come with friends or get to know other members of the community. Maybe you’ll find a great piece of local artwork to take home.

We will also provide a cake and biscuit decorating service run by Elizabeth Heath, an illustration student at Camberwell School of Arts. You can decorate edible gifts for Father’s Day, keep the kids occupied for half an hour, or indulge your creative side just for fun. The theme of the festival is “travel” so we want to see lots of ships and aeroplanes!

Cutty Sark - by Catherine Heath

All proceeds will go towards running costs for The Mini Cooking Club charity, which provides free educational cooking workshops for people in South London. We hope to see you there, and fingers crossed for good weather!

Please email Catherine to confirm that you will be donating goods, if you want to find out how else you can help or have any questions at all.  

The Mini Cooking Club is registered charity number 1146783. Camberwell Arts Festival is Registered Charity Number 1138225. 

By Catherine Heath

The Best Start To Life: Healthy Eating Week 2013

The British Nutrition Foundation is launching Healthy Eating Week in order to promote healthy eating habits and exercise in all schools and nurseries. Part of the focus will also be the origins of the food we eat and practical cooking skills. Over 3,000 schools have registered to take part (that’s over one million children and young people). 

Research shows a strong correlation between diet and academic performance. It was shown that children who eat balanced meals are far more likely to do well than children who eat more consume more processed foods and higher levels of fat, sugar and salt. (Aldridge et al, 2008).

The key is not low calorie intake or eating large amounts of fruit and vegetables, but actually to consume enough types of food from each dietary group (fats, dairy, carbohydrate, protein and vitamins and minerals) to fulfil each quota. The focus is on diversity of diet throughout the school day. 

Britain still needs to improve standards of nutrition knowledge and cooking abilities. As processed food and ready meals become ever more widely and cheaply available, children can grow up without managing to learn these essential life skills. 

Academic performance in school influences future educational achievement and therefore adult income levels. It is our responsibility to make sure every child gets the best start possible in life. This may seem obvious, but the amount of money spent on advertising by companies that promote unhealthy food like Nestle and Cadbury is ten times as much as the government spends on healthy eating campaigns.

Parents can try their best to feed their children nutritious food and still lose out to clever marketing campaigns targeted at kids, and too many snacks available in school. Instead of giving children money to spend on chips, try making them a healthy salad or tortilla wrap. If they are hungry in between meals, replace crisps or sweets with fruit or sliced vegetables. Involve children in the preparation of the evening meal to encourage confidence in the kitchen.

Show your support for Healthy Eating Week 2013 by eating your homemade food and tweeting us pictures @EatinCampaign or post on Facebook. 

Ref:

‘Diet Quality and Academic Performance,’ Aldridge, et al. (2008)

By Catherine Heath