Cooking for confidence: Lyndsay’s journey as a Community Food Volunteer

Hi, my name is Lyndsay and I volunteer at Greener Kirkcaldy as a Community Food Volunteer.

As part of my work in the NHS I helped a variety of groups to gain the skills and confidence to start to cook for themselves and their families. It was incredibly rewarding and it gave me a great sense of achievement. I have always loved to cook. I see myself as a somewhat adventurous cook as long as there is no fish involved. I don’t do fish – too many bones!

When I retired in September 2021, I wanted to look for ways to use my skills to help other people learn how to cook! Eating well and cooking from scratch is so important, not only for your health and wellbeing but for your purse too! However, messages are confusing and this is where my skills and knowledge could be put to good use!

An opportunity arose at Greener Kirkcaldy for a Community Food Volunteer to assist in various cooking classes that they run – this was just what I was looking for. Helping Jackie deliver our Smart Cooking and Kids Cooking classes is hard work but very rewarding – especially when you see the changes that people make. It’s great to watch them go from ‘I can’t’ or ‘I don’t like’ to ‘I can do this!’ and ‘that’s actually quite nice!”.

First Aid Training

Kitchens can be quite a dangerous place to work in. They are full of hazards like sharp knives and hot pans. If you are not careful, accidents can happen. Greener Kirkcaldy is an organisation that really looks after its volunteers and offers training to ensure we’re all up to speed with things like food hygiene, to make sure we are confident volunteers. When I was asked to consider attending a formal first aid course, I felt that this would be a very worthwhile course to do, especially as I work in the kitchen, so I signed up.

The course was very informative. It mixed theory and practical activities with a few ‘gory’ pictures thrown in! It was intense but after completing a wee quiz I was presented with my certificate and I  can now call myself a ‘First Aider at Work.’ Fingers crossed that I never have to use my skills but I will feel more confident to help if someone I am working with has an accident.

Lyndsay Clark, Community Food Volunteer