The Tantum Trust and Bushy Leaze Family Centre in Alton joined forces to help young parents learn how to cook healthy meals on a budget.

The charity, usually known for helping families in need with grants and Christmas shopping vouchers, extended its support by delivering a free four-week course at the centre, with the help of Sophie Neish of Sophie Cooks.

Sophie started the course with an explanation how to save money when buying and storing food. 

Her top tips created plenty of discussion and sharing of ideas.

For instance, did you know strawberries kept in a glass jar in the fridge are likely to last for many more days than if left in the punnet? 

And frozen vegetables hold on to more nutrients than fresh ones that have been left for a few days.

She then got the parents cooking and for a mere £1.67 for a serving for two people  they all created a very tasty sweet potato, chick pea and lentil curry. 

One participant said she didn’t like curry yet ate the tasting portion, saying it was the best thing she’d ever tasted! 

The parents left the course buzzing with enthusiasm to try new food and confident they could save money at the same time.

The Tantum Trust was delighted with the results of this pilot project and now nine families have enough in their culinary toolkit to buy ingredients smartly and create healthy home-cooked food for the whole family.

The charity would like to run more Cooking on a Budget courses  but  need funds to do so. To donate go to www.thetantumtrust.co.uk or call the administration office on 01420 477787.