Students from the Western English language School’s (WELS) Wyndham Vale Campus did their final cook up on Friday 14th June 2024 as part of the Nutritional Cooking on a Budget program.

Students made a speech and shared a booklet they compiled to thank staff and volunteers involved in the program from MiCare, Laverton Youth Foundation, and Gateway Community Services.  MiCare’s Youth Settlement Worker, Silvia Gonzalez, and staff from Laverton Youth Foundation delivers this cooking program once a term to newly arrived refugee and migrant young people studying at either from WELS or English classes at Victoria University’s Wyndham campus.  The 6-week program, funded by the Bendigo Bank, provides participants with the opportunity to cook and try new recipes, learn about fire safety, and share cultural recipes with fellow students.  The program takes place in a commercial kitchen giving students, interested in a career in the catering industry, the experience to use specialised commercial cooking equipment.

This term three participants had never cooked before and at the conclusion of the program they gained skills to cook healthy and delicious dishes for friends and family.