Students receive valuable tips on budget cooking to prepare for university

Students, who are aspiring to higher level study, learned how to make a range of delicious meals on a budget during a fun workshop, which was organised by Walsall College to help them prepare for university life.

Students who attended the workshop are all part of the Aspire to HE programme, which aims to support the Government’s goals to help more young people into higher education (HE) by 2020.

The ‘Cooking on a Budget’ workshop, devised by the college’s Aspire team, was organised to help students gain the culinary skills to prepare quick and easy meals at university without compromising on cost or taste.

Chris Sammons, Walsall College’s lecturer in Hospitality and Catering, taught students how to prepare a tasty Pasta dish and a Chilli Con Carne.

Chris also gave students tips on how to shop on a budget, hygiene as well as storing and freezing food.

Students were then tasked to create their own budget meal, using new culinary skills which they then cooked using a range of free ingredients.

At the end of the session, the students also received a free cookery book, packed with hundreds of affordable recipes they can practice at home and when they start university.

The ‘Cooking on a Budget’ workshop is the first of a series that will take place over the next months. Future dates include:

Wednesday 24th January – 2.30pm – 4.00pm

Thursday 1st February – 2.30am – 4.00pm

The Aspire to HE programme is a partnership funded through the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) that supports the government’s goal to increase the number of young people from specific post codes entering higher education by 2020.

Vivien Russell, Walsall College’s Progress Coach for Aspire to HE, said: “Living independently and budgeting for food is a large part of university life. The workshop was chance to prepare students for some of the challenges and opportunities of living on a smaller budget, whilst being able to prepare healthy and tasty meals.

The feedback we’ve received has been very positive. Students have commented on how useful the workshop was for them, as well as enjoying the beautifully presented recipe book they received that provides a wide range of choice some would not associate with budget cooking.”

Dan Howells, Director of Aspire to HE at University of Wolverhampton, said: “Aspire to HE is busy delivering a range of exciting projects that we are all pleased to be involved with, and I am thrilled that the ‘Cooking on a Budget’ workshops at Walsall College have been so well received.

Success for us at Aspire to HE is not just that more young people make an informed, ambitious decision about higher education, but that they continue on their chosen route to graduation or complete their Higher apprenticeships. Some of the work that Walsall College is doing through Aspire to HE, such as supporting students to cook on a budget is helping them to develop skills to do just that, and they are skills that students will use throughout their lives.”

If you teach Aspire to HE students or you’re an Aspire student who want to learn how to cook on a budget, please book your place on our next workshop on Wednesday 24th January.