It will begin to look a lot like Christmas when you download Merry Christmas Cooking, Livability’s free recipe book, brought to you by the people with disabilities we support – plus celebrity chefs. We’ve launched Merry Christmas Cooking along with our Skills for Success campaign, which highlights the difference that learning new skills makes to the people we work with.
People who use our services around the country sent in their Christmas feasting favourites, as well as photos of them in action in the kitchen. TV chefs the Tanner brothers and contemporary Scottish chef Tony Singh MBE were delighted to get involved too and they have gone spicey! There’s a delicious spiced parsnip soup with Bramley apple from the Tanners, and a tasty masala eggs dish from Tony Singh who had this to say: ‘Do make time to give some of these fabulous Christmas recipes a go. Merry Christmas to everyone in the Livability community!’
From our North-East services, where we support people in residential care and supported living, come two crackers – a boozy Christmas cake and a gammon and Brie pie. Sue, who has regained cooking skills after rehabilitation at Livability Icanho, contributed a simple but delicious Christmas pizza, which is one of the dishes she has learned to cook again. There’s a cinnamon banana bread from Livability Anvil House, home to adults with profound learning disabilities, plus many more treats for you to try out at home.
We work with people with a wide range of abilities and learning new skills in the kitchen is popular because it’s very accessible and builds independence. It’s all part of the learning and development which Livability sees as an essential ingredient in excellent disability care. Matt, a young man we support in Dorset, said simply ‘cooking makes me happy!’ and his housemate James wants to ‘research more recipes and try them’ in 2022.
Livability staff focus on what someone can achieve in the kitchen and enable them to learn new skills wherever they can. For some, this could be as simple as learning to make hot drinks safely for themselves and friends, or stirring up ingredients; for others, it could be choosing and following recipes successfully, with minimum support.
Skills for Success is Livability’s Christmas Appeal 2021, highlighting the life-changing priority Livability places on learning and development. We support children, young people and adults with disabilities to discover their gifts, master new skills and achieve their goals.
The pandemic has sharpened the challenges that people with disabilities face in accessing education and training, learning new skills and finding work. People with disabilities are twice as likely not to be in work compared to non-disabled people. These disadvantages and prejudices can result in low self-confidence and low achievement.
We refuse to have low expectations of people with disabilities but instead work together with the people we support to develop their potential. This hugely boosts self-confidence, independence and wellbeing. Skills development is an everyday part of Livability services, thanks to our staff team.
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