YOUNG carers who attend a Downend primary school and their families got together for a celebration after a five-week course to help them learn how to cook healthy meals.
The group, known as the Caring Crew, made guacamole, hummus and smoothies, and shared tea, coffee, hot chocolate and treats, while listening to Christmas music, to mark the end of the course run by charity CRuNCH at Christ Church C of E Junior School.
The course is part of a wider project to ensure every young person in the UK can cook five healthy meals from scratch before leaving home.
Each course ends with a celebratory family session where parents, carers and children can come together.
CRuNCH is a Bristol-based charity which aims to help families cope with rising food costs, declining cooking skills and the rise of ultra-processed foods by giving children and families the skills, confidence and knowledge to cook proper meals.
It aims to ensure every child has the chance to develop essential food and cooking skills, with a target of helping 5,000 people by 2028, prioritising the most disadvantaged groups.
Most of its work is with secondary schools.
CRuNCH founder Kate Percy has years of experience of cookery education programmes and is “on a mission to rebuild our relationship with food, one meal at a time”.
Kate said: “Cooking is a catalyst for so much more.
“Events like this show how food brings families and school communities together.
“When children cook alongside their parents and carers, we see their confidence blossom — and that positivity flows into the home and the classroom.”
The Caring Crew are pupils who support family members living with illness, disability, mental health or substance-use issues, and can have unpredictable home lives.
Christ Church inclusion and young carers lead Tracy Eatwell said: “For some of our young carers, life can feel overwhelming.
“To see them smiling, chopping, mixing, and just being children is incredibly powerful. These sessions remind them that they matter too.
“The point of the celebration is to bring together their parents and carers so we can build a support network among those families – it’s really lovely to see everyone together.”
Christ Church head teacher Pippa Osborne said: “I’m grateful to both CRuNCH but also to Tracy for the amazing opportunities which are given to our Caring Crew – I believe it really makes an impact.”