Posted on 07 August 2023
We’ve started Chop and Chat sessions for our sheltered and supported residents.
Thanks to our Santa Run fundraising, we’ve now been able to start much needed Chop and Chat sessions for our sheltered and supported schemes at Roxburgh House in Southampton and Lacy House in Chichester.
Working with the food charity UK Harvest, the sessions simply involve bringing residents together, to sit down and follow a recipe for a nutritious meal, with the main aim being to simply ‘chop and chat’.
The sessions are designed to bring communities back together and build better relationships with neighbours, breaking down the barriers of isolation and loneliness.
Corinne Kay, Scheme Officer said: “The sessions have been a brilliant success with our residents. Not only are they a fantastic opportunity for people to come together and have a chat over a cup of tea in our lounge, but they then all prepare a nutritious, tasty meal. Our residents loved making ‘one pot chicken’ and they said that they were looking forward to sharing this low-cost and tasty recipe with friends and family.
“UK Harvest has lots of ideas to generate inclusion in our scheme and we hope to be able to roll it out to all schemes, with much-needed nourishment for residents’ minds, bodies and souls.”
Talking about one of the sessions she joined at Lacy House, a resident told us: “It was great to have a session like this where I live. I really enjoyed meeting my neighbours and chatting. We all got lots of support from UK Harvest when we made the food. The staff were great and made us all feel very welcome and had lots of time for any questions we had.”
We’re currently in discussion with UK Harvest about expanding these sessions to become more regular events.
Visit the UK Harvest website for low-cost and easy recipes.