Recipe for success

St Andrew’s Youth Club|, the Lord Mayor of Westminster’s Charity of the Year and the oldest youth club in the world, is set to equip more young people across Westminster with essential cooking and life skills thanks to a £5,000 award from Land Securities.

As well as teaching children how to cook tasty, nutritious meals, what sets the project apart is the way in which youth workers use the cookery class as a platform from which to engage young people on a whole host of other important issues from body image and weight to bullying and street crime.

The project was launched as a pilot for the first time last year and proved hugely popular with the club’s 700 members, attracting all ages from nine to 19 year olds.  It has also captured the attention of celebrity chef, Phil Vickery, who recently visited St Andrew’s to lend his support to the project and join in a class.

Phil Vickery said: “The work they are doing here is quite incredible. The quality of the food the young kids are creating is great and it was a real inspiration for me to see cooking used as a way to engage young people on wider social issues.  I was blown away by the level of enthusiasm in the classes and it was a real joy to see kids from the local community so engaged.”

Commenting on the Land Securities donation, Naomi Roper, Development Manager at St Andrew’s, said: “Grants like this are the lifeblood of the Club and we depend on organisations and individuals who recognise the great work we do in the community to continue to back us. The cookery project has been a real success since it started in 2009 and I know that every member of the Club will be thrilled to hear that we can now continue the cook on throughout 2010.”

This is the second year that Land Securities has supported St Andrew’s and this latest grant will fund the project to run every week on Wednesday night throughout 2010, paying for cooking equipment, ingredients and tuition.  Funding has been provided as part of Land Securities London Corporate Community Investment programme, which during 2009 has provided more than £285,000 of donations to charitable courses.

Jack Lawrence, Community Liaison Officer at Land Securities London Portfolio, said: “The future of London is not just about its bricks and mortar. In our role as a good corporate citizen, we have a responsibility to contribute to the social fabric of this city, not just the physical environment.  The St Andrew’s cookery project makes such a difference to lives of young people in Westminster and is exactly the kind of initiative that Land Securities is proud to support.”