I was very excited to get a parcel from HQ yesterday, containing a menu of the meals we will be cooking and sharing with our participants this year!
It’s a smorgasbord of exotic dishes from around the world including India, the Americas, Europe, Africa, Russia, East Asia and more. (Because eating on a budget doesn’t have to mean beans on toast!)
I can’t wait to learn some of these recipes, let alone demonstrate them. And to think that every one can be whipped up for under £1 per person… It’s easy to see how skills like these could really be life-changing.
The package also contained loads of publicity materials; if you know of anywhere or anyone where they might be welcome, please send us an email or Facebook message and I’ll gladly drop some off.
Everything hinges on securing a venue at the moment (including for a high-profile media launch, at which a few volunteers would be most welcome), but it’s all coming together. Keep watching this space!
If there’s one thing I learned from a decade in journalism, it’s the power of picking up the phone instead of sending an email.
Written messages are easy to ignore, or at least de-prioritise. A phone call says “Hey, we should chat about this now!”
So it’s been a morning of phone calls, in which I’ve arranged meetings with a foodbank coordinator and a top Sheffield City Council exec, made BoT known to several (eager) social prescribing services and confirmed the Sheffield Star’s interest in us, amongst other things!
The upshot? We’re one (big) step closer to securing our first venue, look even more likely to fill the kitchen and will have a feature in next Wednesday’s Star, all being well!
Hopefully I’ll be able to give you a location and date for our first session soon, so please stay tuned!
Hello! Welcome to a brand new blog for a brand new start: the launch of Bags of Taste in Sheffield! We’re giving people in poverty the skills and the confidence to save around £1,400 each year in food bills, through free group cookery sessions — in a nutshell! You can learn much more about this incredible nonprofit at bagsoftaste.org.
Programme Lead (Sheffield) Dave Doyle. Hello!
My name is Dave and I’m the new Programme Lead for this amazing outfit in Sheffield. Just a tiny bit about me: I’m a journalist and media consultant, dance teacher, science communicator and pro photographer, with a passion for performing improvised and stand-up comedy! I’m married with one cat and have lived in South Yorkshire for the last decade (though I’m a proud Scouser).
I’m coordinating the courses up here and will be keeping a blog of our progress towards changing hopefully hundreds of lives. So check in regularly to see what we’re up to!
If you want to know anything about taking part (as a participant, partner organisation or volunteer), please get in touch and I’ll be sure to answer quickly. You can email me at this address; willing volunteers can also join the Facebook group to find out more.
Thank you so much for being interested enough to read this far; I hope you can get involved with this fantastic project, in one way or another.
Here’s a quick breakdown of where we are right now, one week in:
Sheffield BoT registered with Sheffield Volunteer Centre and Sheffield University’s student volunteering service.
Coordinating with two brilliant and committed volunteers (both Johns!) to set location and date of the first course.
Partner organisation recruited to supply volunteers and (hopefully) venue for the first course in mid/late September.
Almost 40 people have expressed an interest in volunteering, on the branch’s Facebook group.
In discussions with local/regional media about features and broadcasts to get the word out.
Networking with relevant agencies to secure participants for the first course.
Bags of Taste Sheffield 