Recipe Book offers Food for Thought

A collection of well-known celebrities including South West Chef Rick Stein and Rob Rees, The Cotswold Chef, have joined forces with staff from NHS Gloucestershire to put together a unique recipe book on behalf of charity Gloucestershire Young Carers.

The book, entitled We Cook, We Care, is being launched this week and includes a range of simple healthy recipes that will appeal to everyone. But it also has a secondary aim – to raise the profile of local charity Gloucestershire Young Carers and money for the work it does.

In addition to Rick Stein and Rob Rees, Allegra McEvedy, star of BBC’s Economy Gastronomy, and TV’s Dr Mark Porter have also donated recipes. The majority of the mouthwatering dishes in the book, however, have been submitted by members of staff at NHS Gloucestershire who supported the project to raise funds for Gloucestershire Young Carers when the NHS Trust chose the organisation as its first ever Charity of the Year for 2009.

While money from the sale of the recipe books will go to Gloucestershire Young Carers which supports more than 500 children and young people who have a caring responsibility for someone in their family, it is also hoped that the project will shed light on how important the issue of food preparation is to young carers.

Ele Semadeni, Acting Chief Executive of the charity says: “In the many years that our charity has been supporting young carers in Gloucestershire our team of workers have come to realise that the preparation of food is a central and extremely important issue in the lives of the young people we come into contact with.

“While many of us may look forward to preparing an evening meal, there are probably others among us who find it a chore, sometimes stressful – trying to fit it in with looking after children or working long hours.

“But for young carers the planning and preparation of a meal takes on a whole new dimension. The young carers we support include children as young as 8 right through to young adults of 24. And while most young people rush in from school ready to rush out again to a weekly club or to a friend’s house, a young carer has other thoughts in mind.

“These young people have a caring responsibility for someone in their family who is ill, disabled, experiencing mental ill health or suffering from the effects of substance misuse. When they get home from school their day truly begins as their thoughts turned to their family.”

Anyone wishing to purchase a copy of We Cook, We Care should contact Trina Roberts at Gloucestershire Young Carers on 01452 733060 or email: trina@glosyoungcarers.org.uk.

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