Metfield hosts therapeutic cooking classes for young people

Young people have been using the therapeutic skill of cooking to help them explore life experiences.

Set up to increase the number of activities in rural areas, the initiative sees children attend two-hour cooking sessions in Metfield Village Hall.

As well as cooking, the children can discuss life’s challenges by writing down any thoughts on paper, which they can pop into a mixing bowl to be read out anonymously.

Called cook@church, the initiative was originally funded by the Lightwave initiative from the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and has been running for several years.

The Rev Canon Susan Loxton, rural dean of the Hartismere and Hoxne deanery, said: “It broadens their experience of food and encourages them to try different foods from different cultures.”

Held once a month, the sessions are supported by Mid Suffolk District Council, which has provided £1,000 in funding.