“People always tend to gather in the kitchen at parties, don’t they? That’s just what it’s like here now.”
Groups of children have been honing their culinary skills since a charity group raised enough money for a new kitchen at a centre for young people.
Abigail Leitao, one of the APPLE team that runs the centre, added: “Even when the young people aren’t cooking, you’ll often find them in there.”
Around Ealing visited APPLE, based in the ARTBLOCK building in Acton Park, when it was in the process of raising the money for improvements 2 years ago. It had a target to raise £19,492 and almost £10,000 had been secured from Ealing Council’s Ealing Together Fund.
Now that it has managed to raise the rest of the funds, we paid a return visit.
The once compact kitchen, with just enough room for one person, is now much bigger and well-equipped to offer an interactive cooking experience for young people. And it is making a real difference.
Cooking club
As well as the cooking sessions, APPLE runs other clubs and events for the young people and their families. But the kitchen is a real hub of activity, and there is a weekly after-school cooking club for Year 5 children from East Acton Primary School.
As well as learning kitchen skills, the pupils are also told about good nutrition – and, of course, they get to eat the fresh meals they help to prepare and cook. The young chefs’ cooking skills have been put to the test while creating burritos, pasta dishes and much more.
Rylie attends the sessions and enjoys making suggestions about what to add to the menu.
“We can do a lot more now in the new kitchen,” said Rylie. “There’s room for us to move about. I like being able to chat to other people while we’re cooking. The food is really nice, and we’re encouraged to try new things. My favourite has been the stir-fry because I like the noodles and vegetables.”
Many of the ingredients are grown in APPLE’s own garden, which, of course, has an apple tree, and provides a feast of fruits and vegetables.
The centre is open 6 days a week and, on 5 of those days, it provides regular freshly cooked meals to the young people who go there. The staff, most of who used to be visitors to the centre when they were younger, also offer a host of other activities including arts and sport.
Councillor Blerina Hashani, the council’s cabinet member for thriving communities, added: “This is a great community resource that offers lots of free activities to young people and families. It has been running for more than 20 years and is a real asset to everyone who uses it.”
