Bedford cooking lessons aim to improve black and Asian health

Rachel Adelakun, pictured with her children, said the event changed her perceptions on the price of some healthier food options

A church hall will host nutritional food and cooking sessions as part of a project to improve the health of black and south Asian people.

The scheme, prompted by a disproportionate number of deaths in these communities during the Covid-19 pandemic, was launched in Bedford.

The project aims to address health inequalities.

The risk of becoming very sick with Covid was higher during the pandemic for people in certain ethnic groups.

Femi Mafoh, executive trustee of the Open Doors Training and Development Trust, said: "We show you how you can prepare the food in a healthier way and also physical activity is so important for your mental health and so we provide all those activities."

He said they set up the scheme after finding out the deaths of friends and family members during the pandemic were linked to underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Femi Mafoh hopes that with the right education, people can prevent future health issues from happening

Rachel Adelakun came to the launch event with her children because healthy living was "important" to her and her family.

She said: "I thought if we could start from the family, from the children, they would grow up to see that healthy living is a way of life and see it as something that is priority."

"I'm going to practice all of the things I have learnt today, and I gave the food to my children - they also love it, so we are going to be making more and more of it."

The trust's "health and wellbeing awareness project" was launched at the Christ The King Church Hall on Tuesday and its first food session was planned for 31 October.