Another year of cooking up confidence for young Londoners
By Liza
From young people stepping into hospitality careers, to families cooking together after school, to watching a young person fall in love with French beans, it’s been an incredible year that wouldn’t be possible without our partners and funders.
As a charity with no permanent home, being welcomed into our partners’ communities means everything. And of course, a huge thank you to our funders for making connection, learning and shared meals possible.
Our 2025 in numbers
A quick snapshot of the year:
Introducing… our first Impact Report
This year, we’re excited to share something new: our very first Impact Report.
Covering the 2024/25 school year, the report brings together case studies, statistics and videos that show the real impact of Eat Club’s work through the voices and experiences of the people involved.
A taste of our impact
After-school family cooking courses in Hackney
This year marked our first-ever family cooking courses in schools across Hackney, made possible by funding from Hackney Council.
These courses created space for children and parents to cook side by side, build confidence in the kitchen and explore new foods together. One parent, Sylvia, shared her experience:
“I’m so excited about this course. My son Alvin never used to eat vegetables, he would always pick them out of his plate. But since joining the cooking club, he loves making salads and is now in charge of preparing French beans at home.
We’ve started eating more vegetables as a family, discovering new foods and learning to use everything, even broccoli stems we used to throw away.
I’ve also realised how quick, tasty and affordable vegetarian meals can be. One big shop without meat cost me just £27, and I was so proud.
The course has given my children space to learn, cook and express themselves. We’ve all gained confidence and knowledge, and I would 100% recommend it to other parents.”
Opening doors to hospitality careers
Alongside our community work, we ran five Cooking and Hospitality Career Courses, supporting 50 young people to discover and pursue meaningful career pathways. This was made possible thanks to funding from The King’s Trust and London Youth.
For one of our Cooking and Hospitality Career Courses in partnership with IRMO, a charity supporting Latin Americans in the UK, we delivered cooking training and industry experience at Caravan Restaurants that helped young people see new possibilities for their futures. Ana, Employment Support Worker and Mentor at IRMO, shared:
“Many of the young people we work with believe their only career option is cleaning because they can do it without speaking English. This course gives them a hands-on industry day with real-world experience. These are valuable skills they can use for their first job, showing them they are capable of so much more and have the potential to pursue other opportunities.”
Read more about our Cooking and Hospitality Career Courses
We’re expanding our team
This year wasn’t just about the programmes we delivered, it was also about the people who made them possible.
Our team grew last year and is now made up of 22 session leaders, our inspirational professional chefs running our courses, 9 Young Leaders gaining professional skills through youth-led projects, and 5 core team members, the female powerhouses keeping the charity running day to day.
We’re especially proud that two members of our core team started out as Young Leaders!
What’s next?
Thanks to continued support from the National Lottery Community Fund, we’re able to deliver free cooking courses in London communities, creating more opportunities for young people and families to gain confidence in cooking nutritious meals. We’re running more courses than ever in 2026!
If you’d like to get your young people cooking, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s plan a course together contact svenja@eat-club.org.
Interested in joining the team or partnering with us? Get in touch at info@eat-club.org.