A CHESTER community centre has started a new group for children and young people to encourage a love for home-cooked food.

Participants of Hoole Young Chefs are giving the adults at home a night off from cooking and taking on the responsibility themselves.

They are making meals to share with their families and during the sessions, they are taught the importance of food hygiene and encouraged to taste new foods.

Hoole Young Chefs is the mastermind of Samantha Brown, café manager at Hoole Community Centre community café.

While making these meals from scratch, the young chefs are also learning lasting life skills.

They make a meal aimed to feed two adults and two children with very little washing up. So far, the budding chefs have produced meals such as chilli and rice, piri-piri chicken traybake and aubergine parmigiana.

Samantha is supported too by a team of volunteers who see the importance of teaching children and young people how to make home-cooked meals, encouraging children to try new foods and learning about where their food comes from.

She said: “We have received amazing feedback from both the children and their guardians.

"The children appreciate the grown-up feeling of being able to use ‘sharp’ knives and the responsibility of having to clean up after the session and the adults appreciate a night off from cooking. They reported an increase in participation in making meals at home following the course.

"The fact that their children are being armed with the life skills that will hopefully carry them through to adulthood is a bonus."

Hoole Community Centre, on Westminster Road, offers over 40 activities a week and within the Centre operates Hobson’s Café; a volunteer-led, community café.

Volunteer co-ordinator at the Centre, Claire Andrews, added: “We are thrilled to be able to offer the Hoole Young Chefs course to local children. The two courses have been well received and the children have been a pleasure to work with.

"It is lovely to see Sam and the volunteers sharing their skills and experience with the new generation of cooks.

"We have also been lucky enough to receive sponsorship from two local businesses. Working with local schools, it was nice to be able to offer a place to a child who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend the course.

"They have been able to take part, learn life skills to produce tasty meals and have grown in confidence. What a great way for businesses to give something back to the community”.

Hoole Community Centre also runs fun baking sessions during the school holidays.

The next session, being held on Tuesday, February 18, is pizza making. The next Hoole Young Chefs course is starting on Tuesday, February 25.

For more information, to sponsor a place or to book, email volunteer@hoolecommunitycentre.org.uk or visit the group's Facebook page.