YOUNG mums have been donning their aprons and learning how to cook healthy meals on a budget.

A group of seven mums have been taking part in a six-week Let’s Cook course, a national initiative funded by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and run by local Women’s Institute (WI) groups in England and Wales.

The project has been running since 2006 with the aim being to encourage home cooking from fresh ingredients to provide a more balanced diet.

For two-hours each week, women from the Cumbria-Westmorland Federation of WIs have shared their skills at St Thomas’ Church, Kendal, where keen cooks have prepared dishes such as soup, shepherds pie and fruit crumble.

Bowness WI member Marion Want has been lending a hand on the courses, which run once or twice a year.

She said: “It’s something I felt strongly about. I learnt to cook with my mum and I cook every day and I felt sad that these skills were being lost and people were relying on expensive, processed food.”

The project will come to an end this March but Mrs Want said the group was hoping to attract sponsorship to continue the courses, with one planned for November.

She said young dads had yet to take part but there was one on the waiting list.

Mum-of-two Rachel Allen, 28, of Kendal, said before she started the course she was a ‘terrible cook’.

“I cooked very basic food before. I would cook curry but I’d buy jars. Now I buy the ingredients and it’s cheaper,” she said.

“It’s quite fun. I learnt how to make gingerbread men with the kids, which they absolutely love.”

Anyone interested in sponsoring the course can contact Marion on 015394 88445.