Another fantastic session of our Empowerment Group for Young Women!
You asked, and we delivered! Over the past year and a half, we have been running this group, welcoming a diverse range of young women, and it has been a great success. We’ve gathered valuable feedback from the participants about what they’d like to see included in these sessions. It’s vital to listen to their voices, ensuring that the group remains a safe space where they can build strong bonds, develop new skills, and prepare for their futures and aspirations.
One of the most popular requests was a cooking session—something we hadn’t done before. So, what better way to introduce it than with a Cultural Cuisine session?
We partnered with Leicester High School for Girls and their Head of Food Studies, Jenny Whalley, for what turned out to be a fantastic experience. Leicestershire Cares took five young women to the session, which was engaging and hands-on from the start. They had the chance to learn new recipes, work with a variety of kitchen equipment, and, of course, cook some delicious dishes.
Ahead of the session, we sent out a survey asking the young women to choose a cuisine they’d like to cook on the day, with options including East African, British, Indian, and Italian. Italian was the clear winner!
Jenny kindly arranged for the school bus to collect us from the Leicestershire Cares office, and upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by Jenny and Fliss, who was co-delivering the session. We started with an icebreaker to help everyone get to know each other, which created a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Jenny had prepared two wonderful recipes for us. We began with dessert—a classic Tiramisu, which we set in the fridge before moving on to the main dish, Spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino con pangratato. The recipe was simple yet full of flavour, making it a great choice for the session.
The young women had the opportunity to work with kitchen equipment they hadn’t used before while collaborating as a team to create their dishes. Once everything was ready, we sat down together to enjoy a delicious Italian meal—a perfect end to a day filled with cooking, learning, laughter, and female empowerment!
From my side of things, the day was a pilot, to see if this type of event could deliver the confidence-boosting, skills-acquiring, resilience-improving and general all-round fun that I've found to be a feature of food teaching. It's such a strong model for personal growth and group development, and I was delighted to be able to help make it happen. I'm looking forward to developing more events like this in the future, with the support of LHS and Leicestershire Cares
Jenny Whalley - Head of Food Studies
The empowerment group is on the rise, uniting a vibrant and diverse group of young women who are forging strong connections and discovering incredible insights about themselves and each other. Empowering themselves and other young women!
Don't miss out on the next session and keep an eye out for the upcoming poster and schedule details!
For more information or to get involved in the Empowerment Group for Young Women, please contact Krishna.
Krishna@leicestershirecares.co.uk - Project Development Officer - Powering Up Project
https://www.leicestershirecares.co.uk/get-help/individuals/care-experience/