More Than Just Cooking: Our Summer with Karbon Homes Holiday Squad
This summer, the Creative Kitchen team has been busy taking our cooking activities out into the community as part of Karbon Homes Holiday Squad, and what a summer it has been!
From hands on cooking sessions in local community venues to SEND friendly activities at The Croft School, we have spent the summer cooking, creating,
learning new skills and, most importantly, having fun.
We have been proud to work alongside Karbon Homes through Holiday Squad for several years, helping to bring food and cooking activities to children and families across our local communities.
For us, these sessions have always been about more than just cooking. They are about giving children the opportunity to learn practical skills, build confidence, develop independence and discover what they are capable of.
Taking Creative Kitchen into the community
One of the things we love most about working on programmes like Holiday Squad is being able to take Creative Kitchen beyond the walls of our own cookery school.
Our team has delivered sessions in community venues across the summer, creating hands on food experiences where children can get involved from start to finish.
Whether we are making something from scratch, learning a new cooking technique, exploring ingredients or creating something they can proudly take home, our sessions are designed to be practical, engaging and accessible.
For some children, it might be their first time cooking something from scratch. For others, it might be the first time they have tried a particular ingredient or had the confidence to do something independently.
Sometimes, it is simply about having somewhere fun to go, meeting new people and enjoying a positive experience during the school holidays.
Those experiences matter.
Making activities accessible to more families
A really important part of Holiday Squad is the funding that makes these opportunities possible.
Durham County Council’s Fun and Food programme provides vital support for eligible children and families, offering free holiday activities alongside nutritious food as part of the national Holiday Activities and Food programme.
However, the wider Holiday Squad programme goes beyond this.
Additional funding secured by Karbon Foundation, including support from RE:GEN Group and The Bread and Butter Thing in partnership with Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s, helps extend the reach of the programme even further.
This additional funding is particularly valuable because it helps create opportunities for families who may not meet the eligibility criteria for Fun and Food, but who can still benefit from having access to free holiday activities within their local community.
It is not about one programme replacing another. It is about bringing different sources of funding and support together to reach more families.
For us, that is one of the most positive things about being involved.
The school holidays can be an expensive time for families, with the cost of activities, days out, childcare and food quickly adding up.
By making more activities available within local communities, programmes like Holiday Squad can help remove some of those barriers and give more children the opportunity to take part.
That is something we are incredibly proud to be part of.
Creating inclusive opportunities
As part of the programme, this summer, we have also been delighted to deliver SEND friendly sessions at The Croft School.
We know that a traditional holiday activity environment is not always suitable for every child. Different children need different things from a session, and creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable and confident taking part is incredibly important to us.
Our team has experience working with children and young people across a wide range of ages, abilities and settings. That experience allows us to adapt our sessions depending on the group in front of us.
Sometimes that might mean changing the pace of an activity. Sometimes it might mean adapting a recipe or the way an ingredient is handled. Sometimes it is about providing additional support, allowing more time or simply understanding that every child will engage in their own way.
The aim is always the same. We want to create an experience where children can take part, achieve something and have fun in a way that works for them.
We are incredibly proud that our cooking activities can form part of more inclusive holiday provision within our communities.
What we bring to every session
One of the biggest strengths of Creative Kitchen is the breadth of experience within our team.
Between us, we have experience working with children and young people across schools, holiday programmes, community groups, SEND settings, family hubs, care settings and a wide range of different environments.
That experience matters.
When you are delivering activities in different venues, with different groups and sometimes in circumstances that require you to think on your feet, you need a team that can adapt.
Delivering a successful cooking session is not simply about choosing a recipe.
It is about planning, safeguarding, food safety, allergies, communication, behaviour support, adapting activities and understanding the needs of the children you are working with.
And then, of course, there is making sure it is fun!
Our team brings together different skills, experiences and personalities, but we share the same approach. We want children to discover that they can do more than they might have thought.
Whether a child needs a little extra encouragement, a different way of approaching an activity or simply the chance to work at their own pace, we want them to leave feeling proud of what they have achieved.
A note from our founder, Jemma
When I started Creative Kitchen, I wanted to create more than somewhere for children to learn to cook.
I wanted to create opportunities for children and young people to learn new skills, build confidence, develop independence and discover what they are capable of.
Having worked in education before starting Creative Kitchen, I have always believed that confidence and independence are just as important as the practical skills we are teaching.
Sometimes, giving a child the opportunity to try something for themselves, with the right encouragement and support, can make a much bigger difference than we realise.
That is why making our activities as accessible as possible is so important to me. Every child should have the opportunity to take part, regardless of their circumstances or the support they might need to do so.
Whether we are working in a community venue, delivering a holiday programme or adapting a session to make it more accessible for children with additional needs, our aim is always the same. We want to create an environment where children feel supported, capable and proud of what they can achieve.
When a child finishes a session with a little more confidence than when they arrived, perhaps having tried something new, made something independently or discovered that they can do something they were not sure about, that is what makes it all worthwhile.
I am incredibly proud of the Creative Kitchen team and the range of experience they bring to our sessions. Together, we are able to reach children and young people in lots of different settings and make sure our activities can work for the people we are there to support.
For me, it is never just about what we are cooking. It is about what we are helping children believe they can do.
Jemma Bushby, Founder, Creative Kitchen HQ
Why partnerships like this matter
We are incredibly proud of the role Creative Kitchen plays within Holiday Squad.
The programme brings together funding, community organisations and activity providers to create opportunities for children during the school holidays, and we are delighted that cooking can be part of that.
For us, the best part is seeing what happens once the session gets underway.
A child who was unsure about trying an ingredient gives it a go. Someone who has never cooked before manages to make something independently. A group of children who did not know each other at the start are chatting away while they cook.
Or a child who might find a traditional activity challenging finds a way to take part and leaves feeling proud of what they have achieved.
Those are the moments that make the work worthwhile.
Food is such a brilliant way to learn. Children can develop practical skills, explore new ingredients, practise independence, work together and build confidence, all while creating something they can actually eat.
A huge thank you
We want to say a huge thank you to Karbon Homes and Karbon Foundation for continuing to involve Creative Kitchen in Holiday Squad and for the work that goes into making these opportunities available within local communities.
We would also like to thank Durham County Council’s Fun and Food programme and the wider funding partners whose support helps make the programme accessible to even more families.
We have loved seeing you get stuck in, get messy, try new things and show us what you can do!
From community cooking sessions to SEND friendly provision at The Croft School, this summer has been another brilliant reminder of why we love taking Creative Kitchen into the community.
Because ultimately, it really is more than just cooking.
It is about skills. It is about confidence. It is about independence. It is about inclusion. It is about community.
It is about creating opportunities for children and young people to discover what they are capable of.
Creative Kitchen HQ.
Where learning tastes great.
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