A course offering practical food shopping and cooking guidelines for elderly has been launched by Grey Power Thames.
Primarily targeted at elderly men who suddenly find themselves needing to make unfamiliar decisions due to the loss or illness of a partner, the project is also attracting interest from women.
Over six weeks, course attendees will learn to navigate a kitchen, cook basic recipes, put together a nutritious meal, and also practice supermarket shopping skills like comparing prices and choosing cuts of meat.
The cost of the course is $25, which will also cover membership to Grey Power.
The project has been developed by Grey Power Thames vice president Carolyn Young, who volunteers as a cooking instructor at Moanataiari School.
“We discussed the project with the school and have been offered the use of their cooking class kitchen,” Carolyn said.
“This enables us to instruct up to six people on how to prepare meals for themselves.
“Recipe and nutrition books will be supplied. Students will learn basic preparation and cooking skills. A meal will be prepared, cooked and eaten together.”
Carolyn said she hoped the course would help make life more happy and fulfilling for those who were not used to coping on their own.
“It’s very much giving support. When they meet other people on their own at the classes, they can forge friendships and it gives them an outing once a week,” she said.
“We’re a very elderly population in Thames. Some of them have never cooked and they’ve got no family. So it’s helping them just around the house.”
The first course will run sometime in February, and Carolyn said the pilot course would be funded with donations from its members.
“One of our members said, ‘I would like to donate $100’. And by the end of the meeting, we had three others putting in another $150.
“I was just absolutely thrilled that we’ve got enough to do the first one.”
The project also has support from Pak’nSave Thames, which will be contributing to the cost of the supermarket shop.
Carolyn is hopeful they will be able to also garner support and sponsorship from other local businesses.
“Clearly we would be delighted for some financial help. We don’t need much but we will need something if the project grows legs,” she said.
“We are hoping the whole thing develops into a team effort. If you, or someone you know would like to be part of this please get in touch.”
DETAILS: For further information about the course, contact Carolyn Young, Ph 027 463 4948 or barry.carolyn@xtra.co.nz.
