Community kitchen open for cooking and sharing at Old Bath House in Wolverton

The kitchen has been designed and donated by B&Q, with kitchen appliances donated by German manufacturer NEFF, whose UK head office is in Wolverton.

Located at Old Bath House Community Centre on Stratford Road, the kitchen will provide opportunities for young and old to share skills and loved family recipes, build stronger bonds as well as spark a love of cooking in children.

The kitchen features the unique NEFF Slide&Hide oven with the door that disappears allowing for more space around the kitchen, and was officially opened with a Christmas party. The project is part of #NEFFKitchenLove, a campaign by environmental charity Hubbub and NEFF with support from B&Q.

At the opening, Kitchen Love chefs led seasonal cooking activities including mince pie making – a firm favourite with local children. And with a nationwide survey of grandparents1 revealing that a traditional Sunday roast is the dish that Brits most want to pass down to their grandchildren, the event saw demonstrations on how to make perfect roast potatoes, NEFF style, in time for the most important roast of the year.

Following the ribbon cutting by longstanding volunteer at the centre, Carol Boland, guests were presented with a jar of ‘Thriftmas chutney’, having seen demonstrations on how to make this festive favourite from surplus vegetables from the on-site Community Fridge.

To help ensure cooking skills are not lost, the community kitchen in Wolverton will see both generations, older and young, take part in special six-week chef-run courses, where grandparents will brush up on their own skills whilst their grandchildren will build their knowledge and learn to make some of the community’s favourite recipes but with a modern, healthy spin.

To ensure these treasured family recipes are not lost, they will be collated and preserved in a digital recipe book on the dedicated NEFF Kitchen Love website2.

The community kitchen is the second to launch this year, with the other in Haverhill, Suffolk, which opened in October.

Early evaluation of the impact of the cooking course at Haverhill suggests that not only is it an activity loved by the children, but that the grandparents finished the course more confident in cooking and feeling they would eat less sugar and salt and throw away less food in the future – as well as continuing to cook with their grandchildren.

Hannah Kitchen, Kitchen Love Project Co-ordinator at Old Bath House, said: “Food is a great way to bring the local community together and teach young children about the joys of cooking and eating healthily. We’re delighted to be celebrating the opening of our new community centre kitchen with a Christmas party, and hope the event has ignited imaginations, inspired people and will be a catalyst for more cookery collaborations in the future.

Jo Eyers, group marketing manager for NEFF, said: “Investment in local communities is at the heart of what we believe in at NEFF and we are particularly pleased to have helped create this beautiful kitchen in our own community of Wolverton. We hope it will bring people together and spark – or reignite – a real love of cooking amongst residents of all ages.

“Cooking together is a wonderful way for grandparents, parents and their children to bond and learn about each other and we are looking forward to local people getting involved. We hope that many family meals will be created in the kitchen and encourage everyone to submit their family recipes to the NEFF online recipe book at www.neffkitchenlove.co.uk so they are not forgotten.”