Morriston Primary School Initiative Goes From Strength to Strength
Earlier this year, Peter Lynn and Partners Solicitors lent their support to a project at Morriston Primary School that helps provide opportunities to disadvantaged children and their families.
Coordinated by a local charity called The Sharing Table, the project brings people together through a shared love of food and thanks to the law firm, the school were able to install a dedicated kitchen to help pupils and parents as the founder of The Sharing Table, Andrew Copson explained:
“Earlier this year, Peter Lynn and Partners made a four-figure donation to our charity which helped pay for a dedicated kitchen and workspace at the school. Thanks to their generosity, we have been able to help multiple families build self-esteem, learn new skills and access richer and happier lives, all through preparing simple and healthy recipes at our sharing table.”
With the use of food banks on the rise, the charity is acutely aware that many local communities are poorly resourced, with over 800 children in the city reliant on free school meals as their daily sustenance. However, far from being a food bank, the charity offers so much more than a nutritionally balanced hot meal.
“There are no hand-outs at The Sharing Table,” said Andrew, “it is a place to come together as a local community through a shared love of food.”
With a focus on teaching children about where foods come from, growing vegetables and herbs as well as tasing a wide range of fruits, the charity also invites parents into the schools to cook alongside their children.
“Many people take cooking for granted,” said Andrew, ” but lots of children simply aren’t learning about food and cooking skills. We invite them into the school and teach them different recipes which they then cook in the kitchen with their parents encouraging and helping them.”
Not only are the recipes nutritious, but the ingredients used are specially selected to be low-cost and filling, and each family leaves with enough ingredients to cook the same meal at home.”
However, perhaps one of the greatest benefits of the class is the one-on-one time the children get to spend with their parent or carer.
“Frequently, when we ask the children what they enjoyed most about the class, the answer is “spending time cooking with my mother”, reflected Andrew.
As the project approaches the one-year mark, Headteacher Alison Thomas reflects on a successful start to the project.
“Thanks to the support of Peter Lynn and Partners, we were able to get the project off the ground and we’ve all found the sessions really beneficial.”
“It’s been wonderful to see them interacting and enjoying the cookery sessions together. The children have really engaged well – they show interest and are enthusiastic when it comes to preparing the food, cooking and tasting it. It has been lovely to see them trying new foods and learning new skills.” she continued.
“The practical nature of the sessions, the easy-to-follow recipes and the promotion of a healthy diet are key benefits of the project but the involvement of the parents in school life has been a real plus.”
“What’s wonderful is that the children and their parent or carer make the food together in school, then after making the recipe, they are provided with ingredients to take home so they can make it with the rest of the family.”
The contribution is the latest in a series of charitable donations made by the law firm to help organisations that have a direct impact on the local community, especially those helping disadvantaged individuals and families.
“The work of The Sharing Table is truly fantastic,” said the founder of the firm, Peter Lynn, “and while I wish there wasn’t a need for such a charity, we are only too happy to support them and the excellent work they do to help families in the Morriston area.”
With the project set to continue into 2024 and beyond, the next step is to develop the school garden to grow the various ingredients used in the cookery sessions.
“Andrew and I have talked about moving on to growing produce in the school garden, so this will be a future project for us as a school which we hope will help the pupils and their families even more,” said Alison.