Cooking helps rough sleepers get back on feet

Michael, who has been doing the cooking course, said he had been in a "dark place" in the past

Homeless people have been taught how to cook as part of a scheme to help them turn their lives around.

The Ferry Project Cookery School in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, teaches rough sleepers about nutrition, buying ingredients and budgeting.

Michael, 25, who is unable to work, said it was the "best thing that has happened to me".

Alison Crouch, manager and chef, said: "It's about giving them their self-esteem back."

Alison Crouch has worked on the Ferry Project Cookery School since it started in September

Based on the town's historic South Brink, the school aims to reintroduce key life skills to people who may have been on the streets for a while.

About 12 people are being helped weekly in the purpose-built kitchens.

Ms Crouch, who has worked alongside celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Brian Turner, said: "Their confidence grows hugely when they realise they can come in here and interact with other people.

"Some of them were quite nervous... and then they almost bounced out of the room, bounced outside to sit and eat. It's just lovely, really good fun."

The meals, which include lasagne, chicken and chickpea stew and beef empanadas, are cooked together and shared around a communal table.

Jon has been learning how to cook and budget by teachers at the Ferry Project Cookery School

Michael has been helped by the charity after he was evicted from his shared housing and left unable to work.

He said the cookery course was the "best thing that has happened to me".

"It's just getting me on the road back to normality. It's a really great place and activities like this take your mind off things," he said.

Jon, 49, a former labourer who lost his job and flat after an accident at work about nine years ago, said: "It makes me get up in the mornings.

"It's something to look forward to - going out buying your food, your bits and pieces and prepping it, and actually cooking it for yourself.

"There's no point just cooking for one, but once I get myself back on my feet, you never know, do you? Watch this space."

Chicken and chickpea curry has been on the menu at the cookery school