Children learn about healthy eating from care home residents

Older people living at Anchor’s Savile Park care home have worked with the children from Cherry Tree Nursery on the project called Food for Life.

The Mayor of Calderdale, Councillor Dot Foster, and Public Health England visited the home to see for themselves the benefits of the scheme.

Food for Life is a Soil Association Programme to make healthy, tasty and sustainable meals the norm for all to enjoy. By reconnecting, teaching and championing the importance of locally sourced food, the project aims to educate the wider community about healthy eating.

Savile Park Care Home and Cherry Tree Nursery both joined the project in January.

Together they learnt about where their food comes from and how it is grown and cooked.

Vicki Craig, Savile Park’s Wellness Co-ordinator, said: “Not only does the project promote learning around fresh food, it also brings our community together and reduces feelings of isolation. The residents and children have formed a lovely bond and really enjoy sharing skills and talking to each other. It is so nice to see how uplifted our residents are when the children are here.”

Savile Park resident Renee Bottomley, 92 who has lived at the care for four years said: “You just want to pick the children up and cuddle them, because mine are all grown up.

“I love to see them, it reminds me of when my children used to stand watching me bake, waiting to lick the spoon. I was a cook and I taught my boys to cook and look after themselves, so yes, I like to see children learning about food. I taught mine it’s a good thing to learn.”