WE CAN APPLY FOR GRANTS TO FUND WORKSHOPS, COURSES OR INITIATIVES FOR YOUR ORGANISATION - FIND OUT MORE HERE

Are you a social worker, care or support worker, housing
associations or anyone who works with adults and children
who have SEND?

 

 

Supporting this group so they can live healthy lives is one of Sarah’s top aims. Previous workshops with SEND participants have shown how capable and confident the SEND population is. This is in a group setting where participants are supported not only by friends but also by Sarah and volunteers. 


Support is needed in the community to allow the progress around cooking healthy meals to be continued, as a high proportion of participants will live in supported living and will need help to cook or sometimes may not even have a cooker in their flat.


For those who are capable of living independently, following a recipe can prove a challenge and Sarah is keen to provide cooking videos made from her groups that are easily followed and can help to further support healthy mealtimes.

 
People with a learning or physical disabilities are more likely to be overweight (compared to the general population), often due to poorly balanced diets and low levels of physical activity. In turn this may lead to health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, diabetes, several types of cancer and mobility issues.

 
Life expectancy for women is 27% and for men 22% shorter than the general population. Obesity is also higher than average at 37% compared to 26% in the general population. With education and training this trend can be reduced, let work together to help changes to be made.

 


Sarah’s workshops aim to give participants a sense of ownership over their learning and cooking whilst giving them vital cooking and life skills. Participants are guided through the cooking process and are given the space to try things for themselves, but support is always given if things prove too difficult. This approach has proven to improve their confidence and skills hugely. 

 

 

 

GET IN TOUCH

 

 

 

SEND SERVICES

How Wise about Food supports SEND

 

Working with SEND attendees, staff, Parents, SEND Early Years providers, health visitors and families. We have around 20 people a session, all with different abilities but all so confident and willing! Sessions are 2 hours, and food is taken home, containers are religiously bought along!

 
To provide attendees with increased skills, sessions are now offered where meals are cooked by participants, eating together, washing up and tidying away. Classes will involve cooking foods that would not normally be eaten, offering the chance to cook for attendees whereas often meals are cooked by staff or parents. We aim to teaching simple cooking skills and increase confidence not just in cooking skills but in overall confidence too.

 

 

We can also provide Workshops for...

 

  • Workshops for staff and parents who support people with SEND.
  • Nutrition workshops for Early Years Provisions who have children with SEND in their care
  • Nutrition workshops for health visitors to upskill them to they can help families
  • Nutrition workshops for organisations that work with families
 

 

Contact us to discuss your requirements or to discuss
how to secure funding for workshops you might like to run.

 

Nutritional Fact Sheets for SEND

 

Support is offered via a selection of fact sheets that have been produced for SEND and SEND practitioners. Offering down to earth advice around areas that might not have been thought of. Sarah also offers nutritional advice and information on other topics for SEND and many other sectors.

 

 


SEE ALL OF OUR FACT SHEETS

 

 

Cooking and Nutrition for People with Learning Disabilities

Everyone is welcome. Everyone can do this.

 

FOR INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES AND THE ORGANISATIONS THAT SUPPORT THEM

 

Wise About Food CIC has been running cooking and nutrition sessions for people with learning disabilities for many years. Food is the focus — but what actually happens in these sessions goes so much further than cooking.

 

We have seen people grow in ways that nobody expected. Getting public transport independently for the first time to reach a session. Walking through the door not knowing anyone.

Trying a food they had never touched before. Washing up alongside someone new. Taking on a challenge and discovering they could do it. The confidence that builds week by week is one of the most extraordinary things to be part of.

 

For Individuals

 

You come along, you are welcomed in and you get involved — at whatever level feels right for you. Some people chop and stir. Some people lay the table. Some people try a new food for the first time. Some people wash up. Some people do all of it.

 

There is no pressure to do anything in particular and no judgement about what you can or cannot do. Everyone is different and everyone brings something. The session works because of the mix of people in it — and everyone belongs in that mix.

 

At the end, we eat together. The food you have helped to make, shared with the people you have been cooking with. That shared table is the point of all of it.

 

You do not need to be able to cook. You do not need to have done anything like this before. You just need to come along.

That worry is completely understandable. And it is also something almost everyone feels before their first session.

 

Here is what actually happens: people discover they can do far more than they thought. Every single time. The act of trying something, being supported rather than judged, and succeeding — even in a small way — changes something. We have watched people who came in anxious and uncertain leave standing a little taller.

 

If something is difficult, there will always be someone nearby to help. Not to take over — but to do it alongside you. There is a big difference between those two things and we never forget it.

 

Everyone struggles with something. That is what the group is for. People support each other without being asked. It is one of the most beautiful things about these sessions.

The group always has a say in what gets made. We talk about what people enjoy, what they have tried before and what they would like to try. Sessions are built around real preferences, not a set menu.

 

If there is something you do not want to eat — because of an allergy, a preference or simply because it is not for you — that is completely fine. You will never be pressured to eat anything. You can always take food home if you prefer.

 

But something interesting happens in these sessions. People try foods they have always refused before — because they helped make it, because someone else tried it first, because the atmosphere is relaxed and there is no pressure. We love seeing that moment. It never gets old.

 

Absolutely. Support workers, family members and carers are all welcome to come along. In fact, sessions often work best when people bring someone they feel safe with, particularly for the first time.

 

Over time, many people find they need that support less. Independence grows. New friendships form. The session itself becomes the familiar, safe place. But there is never any pressure to come alone before you are ready.

Sessions funded through community grants are free to attend. Where there is a small charge, it is kept as low as possible and nobody is ever turned away because they cannot pay.

 

Get in touch to find out about sessions near you and whether there is any cost to attend. Email sarah@wiseaboutfood.co.uk or call 07706 576 260.

 

 

For Organisations and Support Services

 

Yes — and this has been one of the most consistently rewarding areas of Wise About Food’s work over many years.

 

Wise About Food CIC works with supported activity providers, day services, residential services, community organisations and independent groups supporting people with learning disabilities. Sessions can be run within your existing provision or as a standalone community offer.

 

We are equally happy working with supported activity groups and with more independent groups. The approach adapts to whoever is in the room. What stays the same is the warmth, the patience, the complete absence of judgement and the absolute belief that every person in the group is capable of more than they might think.

 

Get in touch at sarah@wiseaboutfood.co.uk to talk about what sessions could look like for the people you support.

Sarah brings the knowledge, the session plan, the recipes, the equipment and the ingredients. She brings fifteen years of experience working with people with learning disabilities in community settings. She brings patience, humour, warmth and a genuine belief in every person she works with.

 

You provide the people and the space. Sarah handles everything else.

 

Sessions can cover:

 

  • Simple, achievable recipes that build skills and confidence week by week
  • Understanding what is in food and making healthier choices
  • Food safety and hygiene — practical and relevant
  • Trying new foods in a low-pressure, supportive environment
  • The social skills that grow naturally around cooking and eating together
  • Independence skills — from getting to the session to washing up at the end

Yes. You do not need a budget to get started. You just need to get in touch.

 

Wise About Food CIC is a community interest company and Sarah can apply for grants to fund sessions for organisations supporting people with learning disabilities. She will ask you a few simple questions about your organisation and the people you support, and handle the application herself.

 

You say yes. Sarah does everything else — including finding the money to make it happen.

 

Email sarah@wiseaboutfood.co.uk with a brief description of your organisation and the people you support. We will take it from there.

Sarah Scotland is the founder of Wise About Food CIC and holds a BSc in Nutrition, Exercise and Health (Hons). She has been running cooking and nutrition sessions for people with learning disabilities for many years, working with day services, supported activity groups, residential settings and community organisations.

 

Sarah’s approach is built on patience, warmth, complete non-judgement and an unshakeable belief that everyone is capable of more than they might think. She adapts every session to the people in it — there is no fixed formula, no one-size-fits-all approach, just genuine attention to whoever is in the room.

 

Sarah is DBS checked and fully insured. She works in person across Hertfordshire and online UK-wide.

 

"I love seeing the way they try new foods, experiment, get involved with washing up and are always up for a challenge. The confidence that grows week by week is extraordinary to be part of."