College students and young renal patients from Swansea have come together for a cooking demonstration evening with a difference.
The Gower College Swansea students prepared meals from a recipe book specially designed for people with kidney problems. Dishes were served up to a group of young people who attend the renal unit at Morriston Hospital, during an evening at the college’s Vanilla Pod training restaurant in the Tycoch campus.
The Ready Steady Cook event was inspired by Food with Thought, a recipe book produced by the National Kidney Foundation.
Although the books are available to buy, the Paul Popham Fund paid for Morriston Hospital to have a box of them so copies could be given free to renal patients.
The charity, named for a Swansea dad who passed away from metastatic renal cancer, aims to improve the quality of life for renal patients.
Earlier this year, college hospitality lecturer Ioan Lodwig offered to help if the renal unit wanted to work on a joint project. A few months later, the appointment of Morriston Hospital-based renal youth worker Shaun Thomas led to the Ready Steady Cook event.
Morriston Hospital renal dietician Emma Catling said: “Shaun was quite keen to get young people meeting in non-clinical areas, because so many of them are used to being attached to a machine or coming through clinics. They all have kidney failure to some degree, maybe on dialysis or have had a transplant. Potentially they can become very isolated. Shaun wanted to do a cooking evening and Ioan was more than happy to offer his services. The really nice thing is that the students volunteered to take part, so we have young people supporting young people.”
The Paul Popham Fund paid for the food on the night, with sponsorship also coming from F Ley and Sons, Swansea; Coakley-Green, Swansea Market; and Howell Butchers, Penclawdd.
Around 10 students took part, either in the first, second or third year of their City and Guilds VRQ course in hospitality. They demonstrated the recipes to the young renal patients, parents and others in the Vanilla Pod kitchen, with everyone then able to taste the finished dishes in the restaurant.
Ioan said: “We do a lot of fine dining here. We teach our students classical French techniques but we also teach them that, if you want to be a chef, it isn’t just about the top restaurants and hotels. The hospitality industry includes places like hospitals and old people's homes so it’s good for them to learn about the importance of people on a restricted diet. When I asked for volunteers to take part in this they all came forward. I’m very proud of them.”
Shaun said his role, shared between ABM and Cardiff and Vale University Health Boards, was to give the renal patients a chance to meet outside clinical settings and just be young people.
He added: “The Ready Steady Cook night was about young people showing other young people how to cook – while at the same time gaining experience of teaching. It was a nice 'full circle' moment and a great example of networking between two organisations, giving the students and our young people the chance to learn and meet others. We would like to thank Gower College Swansea, particularly Ioan and his students for their hard work dedication.”
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Press release: ABMU Health Board