Cafe Society was a project lead by Arts and Health initiative Squash Nutrition and is part of Target: Wellbeing in Knowsley, co-ordinated by the Health and Well-being Partnership and funded by the Big Lottery, Knowsley Council and NHS Knowsley.

Café Society worked in a deprived community in Knowlsey, Merseyside to engage and inspire people to eat healthier food and to promote the health benefits of cooking from scratch.

The project worked with adults in Stockbridge Village delivering creative nutrition training and cooking sessions creating delicious recipes with wonderful fresh and healthy ingredients – showing that healthy, nutritious food can be a treat for the senses and taste buds rather than a chore.

The project looked at food from field and garden to plate, showing participants how to grow their own or visiting farms and orchards to demonstrate how local food is produced and then creating tasty dishes with the ingredients. The project’s beneficiaries then celebrated their new skills through cooking at pop-up cafés inviting friends, family and the local community to sample the delights.

The project shared its message at cafés and markets through giving recipes, ingredients and the all important taste test to the wider community.

Squash Nutrition has gone form strength to strength since the end of this project, and can be contacted via their website (see link above).