Fink inside the box to boost young people’s mental wellbeing
Making good on their mission, how a local Social Enterprise business is sharing cooking tips to help youngsters.
Fink Street Foods is a food business with a difference. Or should that be several differences. Through their food boxes they bring healthy fresh Middle Eastern-inspired meals to markets and offices around Berkshire. And they have a mission:
To break down mental health stigma, one bite at a time
Connecting with local Berkshire charities has been a real 'silver lining' for Fink during the Covid crisis. The launch of their delivery service was a catalyst for meeting like-minded people in the area, allowing them to build new relationships with organisations who share their mental health vision.
One amazing charity they've chosen to partner with is Young People and Children First (YPACF) which gives a home to young people (aged 16-25) who are leaving care or are homeless.
YPACF currently has two houses in West Berkshire; Cornerstone and Rebecca House. Their young residents are given personalised support in a family environment, helping them to develop life skills, such as cooking on a budget and money management, support getting into education, training or work, and recreational activities with other residents.
James and Lewis (co-founders of Fink) recently delivered outdoor street-food inspired cooking classes to the residents. But they weren't there just to share their cookery skills.
"Learning new skills, trying something new and meeting new people are all key steps to improving mental wellbeing, which is why we thought these sessions may go down well with these amazing young people."
The residents really enjoyed learning how to cook healthy tasty dishes, as James and Lewis guided them through a range of skills including basic knife skills, budgeting and healthy ingredient swaps.
What was on the menu?
We wanted to choose a menu offer that the residents could easily replicate at home, so together we created fiery chicken and cauliflower tacos, with charred corn slaw, lime mayo and Mexican slaw.
Check out the pictures above to see how they turned out!
The Fink duo didn't do all the inspiring though. One of the residents is also a very talented baker. She made some seriously impressive vegan and courgette brownies. They had the perfect brownie "squidge" and what's better is that the courgettes were grown in her garden.
This was one of the best days at Fink so far and we can't wait for our next session!
To find out more about how Fink is helping to raise mental health awareness, one bite at a time, visit their website.