Great Western Railway (GWR) has donated £10,000 to Okehampton community group, All Together Okehampton, last week to encourage families to cook healthy homemade meals.

The funding will be used to build 11 cooking stations, furnished with high-quality utensils and pots and pans, in an effort to teach parents how to cook healthy meals for their children.

Emma Morris, community manager at GWR, said: ’We’re delighted to support All Together Okehampton and believe this project is a real recipe for success.

’Hopefully it will inspire people to find their inner Great British Bake Off or Masterchef and even encourage some of the younger visitors to pursue a career as a chef.’

The opening of the new class comes as local families continue to struggle to provide enough food for their children and turn to foodbanks as a result.

It is hoped that the classes will help people find cheaper and healthier ways to feed their familes.

Michelle Farrelly from All Together Okehampton said: ’Food poverty is a real thing in Devon with 25 families a week relying on our foodbank.

’We have spoken to these families and they have suggested family cooking sessions would be really welcomed and something they would engage with.

’We would invite the whole family to attend the sessions - if young children get into cooking at a young age, they are more likely to make better food choices.’

The classes will be run by locally trained professionals and all ingredients will be provided.

Afterwards, the cooks will encourage families to stay for a meal and social event to offer them the chance to meet others with the same interest in learning healthy cooking styles.

All Together Okehampton also hope that lone adults who wish to learn how to eat more healthily will also attend cooking sessions in order to address loneliness issues that are more common in people living alone.

Ms Farrelly added: ’We would also provide cooking classes for lone adults as we know that adults who live alone can also find cooking alone difficult and pointless.’

The GWR grant comes from its Communities and Education Programme which was set up with the Department for Transport as part of the train operator’s franchise agreement with the governmental department.

The aim of the programme is to aid schools, colleges, community groups and not-for-profit organisations with their work.

The company was recently awarded an extension to its direct award franchise (called DA3), which shall run up to the end of March 2023 and possibly longer.

All Together Okehampton is a community group which aims to bring people together through a range of different activities in order to reduce social isolation.

The group already runs several other community sessions including tai chi classes, meditation sessions, arts and crafts groups and mums’ wellness classes.

At one of its most recent events Okehampton florist Heart of Flowers taught residents how to make Christmas wreathes.

For more information about All Together Okehampton, visit its Facebook page or to find out more about GWR visit www.gwr.com/about-us.