Army Welfare Field to Plate

Field to Plate is a healthy eating initiative that aims to inform and educate young people in a fun and creative way using cooking as a tool to address subjects such as obesity, diabetes, social isolation and loneliness - improving young people’s mental health and wellbeing in a creative and inspiring way learning as they grow, plan, prepare, cook and enjoy food in a social setting.

The project is unique and aimed at military and civilian young people age 8-18yrs who are based across Aldershot, Sandhurst, Church Crookham, and Minley Barracks. It is delivered by professionally qualified Youth and Community Workers and Ghurkha Support Workers from the Army welfare Services. The project puts the young people at the centre of the decision making process empowering them to take ownership.

We are proud of our progress to date and how the young people have engaged with this project despite delays through restrictions to our initial plans.

• We have put together an amazing recipe book designed by one of our young people that will create part of the project and uses recipes, games and puzzles aimed at positive mental health and wellbeing.
• The Youth Voice group are in the process of doing an action research project around healthy eating and they will establish the program going forward, their project will be a six week project running from January 2022 and they will write the program for the younger group.
• We are arranging a cooking project in partnership with a local secondary school to deliver to some of the young people on free school meals and we are planning on taking a group of young people away in April 2022 to run a healthy eating project.
• We are aiming at a 5 day field to plate project in February half term of 2022 with a social enterprise project at the end of the 5 days to be decided by the young people.

We would love your input to help us reach the young people who could most benefit from this project. If you have any ideas around the social enterprise element of the project or would like to become more involved, we would love to hear from you.

Ultimately we hope to support young people to grow in confidence, to learn to understand food and enjoying cooking and to share their ideas and passions with family, friends and the local community.