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Latest News
Sugar and Spice
In my work with families I am always looking for new ways to get to know our parents and their children better. At times it can be really difficult to get parents, whose lives are so hectic, to commit to making time to do things together. They are, however, always keen for their children to have the opportunity to get involved in more activities and this has proved to be a great way of building bridges with both the children and their parents.
Over the last year I have been seeing the benefits of this way of working with a group of the younger girls from Breakfast Club. As more parents have come along we have had an increasing number of younger children too and little kids all love to bake. Since that part of the little kid in me never died, my Tuesday afternoons are now regularly spent up to my elbows in cake mix and icing sugar.
There are four girls aged between four and seven years old who now regularly come to bake. Over time I am seeing their confidence and abilities develop as we work our way through different recipes. They have all now learnt the number one rule of baking, you don't lick the spoon until you have finished using it to stir the mixture! Each week the girls get a new recipe to add to their personal recipe books which will hopefully help them to continue developing their skills at home.
At the same time I have had many more opportunities to spend time with the girls' parents. By picking the girls up and dropping them back at their homes I have had lots of chances to visit their homes, talk with their families and get to know more about them. The baking that the girls bring home always goes down well with their families and even opened up a new avenue when I was recently asked to bake cakes for a younger brother's birthday party.
Engaging with families in this community isn't always easy, especially as a middle class girl from down South, but baking with the girls has proved to me that a little bit of creativity can go a long way in helping with that. I hope that over time I might find other ways to use my love of food to get to know families in this community better and that we might all enjoy sharing much more tasty food together!
Emma
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