ASC is supporting its service users to live independently within their communities thanks to cooking classes organised by staff.

Laura McKechnie, Acting Senior Support Worker at the Dalguise centre, hatched a plan to host Come Dine With Us, where the service users are able to cook their own evening meals on a Sunday.

With the support of Dave, the facility’s chef, and Leanne Fairburn, Service Manager, they have been cooking up a storm.

Accompanied by Laura, two different service users each week have been cooking from scratch, engaging in meaningful tasks and learning new skills.

Each week’s meal is themed around a different country – and so far, they have visited Italy, the USA, Germany, France and Britain.

Laura said: “Several of our service users expressed an interest in cooking their own evening meals.

“As staff, we have a duty of care and need to educate the service users in nutrition and portion control.

“Dave and Leanne were very happy with the idea, which helps engage the service users and helps them learn new skills in the kitchen environment.

“It has been fantastic to see them enjoying cooking for themselves and their fellow service users, learning about different foods and making their own decisions around what they would like to eat.

“The service users are fully on board, and every week they are excited about what they will get to try next.”

Laura and the service users created a chart of which foods each person likes and dislikes, allowing them to have more of a say around what meals are prepared.

So far, ingredients have been donated by the kitchen or brought from home by staff – but plans are also in place to build a kitchen base cupboard of ingredients and utensils.

Everyone at ASC is looking forward to some more tasty treats in the coming weeks.