New cooking classes for students to help them make budget friendly and nutritious meals, are due to start at Forth Valley College’s Alloa Campus thanks to funding from TotalEnergies via the Scottish Procurement Community Fund.
The fund was created by TotalEnergies as part of the Scottish Procurement Framework to support community related projects.
FVC were successfully awarded £8,500 from the fund and this will support cooking classes, in tandem with ingredient bags and recipe cards, to encourage students to try making healthy and cost effective food at home. The classes are designed to enable students eat well on a budget, especially in light of the cost of living crisis, but also to help them learn new skills that they can share with family and friends.
Initially the classes will be offered to students in supported courses at the Alloa Campus on a Wednesday from 2-3.50pm. However, it is hoped this will be rolled out to the Falkirk Campus after Christmas.
Students will be invited to message the organisers if interested and will be asked to attend on an informal and relaxed basis anytime during its ten week run. It is also hoped that free recipe bags will be distributed at Christmas and at Easter to help students create simple soup recipes at home while the College is closed.
The classes will be led by lecturer John Meechan, who is a very experienced Baker and Chef.
Mark Rose, TotalEnergies’ Sales and Marketing Director said: “We are thrilled to have awarded Forth Valley College the Scottish Procurement Community Fund for 2023. We felt their project captured the essence of helping the community, specifically within the local student population, supporting them with gaining new skills to enable them to eat and cook well on a budget. Forth Valley College demonstrated a robust need for this type of provision to help the community in light of the cost-of-living crisis and we wish them every success with this new project.”
Karyn King, FVC’s Hospitality Operations Manager, said: “We would like to express our gratitude to TotalEnergies for awarding us with this funding. In these times of need, supporting all students is so important to us and ensuring the sustainability of projects such as the free breakfast and lunch initiatives.”
Pauline Jackson, FVC’s Development and Fundraising Manager, said: “We were delighted to be awarded the funding and look forward to working with TotalEnergies on this project. The cost of living crisis continues to impact on communities and these classes will help our students to make healthy meals but also have fun learning new skills.”