Tasting Togetherness: Whiddon’s Resident Cooking Club Is Back On The Menu
The Whiddon Cooking Club will bring new connections into kitchens across the not-for-profit providers' 22 residential care homes for the first time in three years.
24 July 2024
Proving there is nothing sweeter than the rich connections cooked up in the kitchen, award-winning care provider, Whiddon has proudly relaunched their successful Cooking Club initiative.
The Whiddon Cooking Club will see residents from each of Whiddon’s 22 residential aged care (RAC) homes come together each fortnight to enjoy the shared experience of creating delicious home-cooked family recipes.
Kicking off from July, the program will run through to June 2025, with twelve months of delicious recipes lovingly drawn from the intergenerational family cookbooks of Whiddon residents. Each month features one sweet and one savoury hero dish, shared by residents and collated into the Whiddon Cooking Club’s very own recipe book.
In bringing these beloved dishes to life, residents are encouraged to share their culinary heritage, embrace social connections, and importantly flex their cooking skills, with the support of Whiddon’s chefs and wellbeing team.
The Whiddon Cooking Club program is one of many creative ageing initiatives championed by Whiddon, with the aim to bring enjoyment and improve the health and well-being of residents through creative expression. The program also complements Whiddon’s care philosophy that places relationships at the heart of great care.
First launched in September 2020 across eight Whiddon homes, the Whiddon Cooking Club experienced a joyous 10-month ‘bake time’ before the COVID-19 pandemic forced its ongoing hiatus in 2021.
Now is the perfect time to serve up the reimagined Whiddon Cooking Club, according to Whiddon Chief Customer Experience Officer, Michael Monteleone, who said:
“We know food holds a special place in the hearts and memories of our residents. There is also immense joy in the connection that comes from creating and enjoying meals together. That’s why it was so important for us to bring this program back to residents across all our residential care homes. We enjoy seeing our residents show our chefs a thing or two.”
The Whiddon Cooking Club will heat up July with recipes from Vida from Whiddon Easton Park and Edna from Whiddon Casino. Vida shares her hearty Slovenian Goulash recipe, passed down by her stepmum and a go-to recipe in her family for decades. Whilst Enda brings a crowd favourite, a delicious Anzac Slice for dessert!
All we can say is, Bon appétit!
About Whiddon
Whiddon is an award-winning care provider that aims to inspire every day in its 22 RAC homes, dedicated community care and NDIS support across NSW & SE QLD. Its purpose is to enrich people’s lives and make a real difference.
Whiddon has been providing exceptional care to older Australians and people with disabilities across regional, rural, and remote NSW and QLD for more than 75 years.
Whiddon proudly partners with academics and universities to remain at the forefront of innovation as it leads the latest thinking, programs, and training around quality of life and ageing.
