Youngsters in\u00a0North Wales enjoyed a\u00a0slice of the action when they showed off their pizza-making skills at a summer\u00a0cookery\u00a0workshop.<\/p>\n
The workshop at Ysgol y Moelwyn\u00a0in Blaenau Ffestiniog proved to be\u00a0a\u00a0highly\u00a0popular ingredient\u00a0in\u00a0Gwynedd Council’s\u00a0three-week long\u00a0Food and Fun\u00a0activities programme.<\/p>\n
Supporting the young cooks were Harlech Foodservice’s business development manager\u00a0Ursula Scurrah-Price\u00a0and\u00a0regional sales controller\u00a0Dave Roberts.<\/p>\n
The family-run company, which supplies Gwynedd schools during term time, donated\u00a0the ingredients\u00a0and\u00a0assisted\u00a0the children with their\u00a0culinary creations.<\/p>\n
The mini\u00a0masterchefs\u00a0were given dough to roll out before spreading tomato sauce and adding a selection of tasty ingredients with a cheesy topping.<\/p>\n
They even had a chance to display their artistic flair as they added designs to their own pizza\u00a0boxes, and\u00a0had a choice of\u00a0eating the food there and then or taking it home to their families.<\/p>\n
Ursula Scurrah-Price said: “As a company, Harlech really enjoys getting involved in\u00a0these kinds of community initiatives.<\/p>\n
“We donate all the ingredients needed for the pizzas,\u00a0we stock all the raw materials at\u00a0Harlech,\u00a0and\u00a0bring it all together.<\/p>\n
“I go through the process of making a pizza with the children step by step, and the idea is they make it themselves and have fun doing it.<\/p>\n
“The activities the children enjoy during the sessions are always fun and healthy and\u00a0there\u00a0is\u00a0a real variety of activities to enjoy.<\/p>\n
“The programme has really developed over the years\u00a0and we are happy to be making this kind of contribution to the community.”<\/p>\n
Ursula, who is running pizza sessions at three schools in Gwynedd and three in Denbighshire this summer, added:\u00a0“Harlech have been doing the sessions for about eight or nine\u00a0years\u00a0and\u00a0I have been\u00a0personally\u00a0doing the sessions for about five years.<\/p>\n
“It’s great to see the kids enjoying themselves, learning new things and having so much fun.”<\/p>\n
Dave Roberts said: “The Food and Fun sessions are such an important community programme.<\/p>\n
“There are so many positives to it, including\u00a0teaching children to cook, which is such a key skill, a skill for life.<\/p>\n
“And\u00a0another\u00a0positive is that parents have childcare within the\u00a0school during the holidays.<\/p>\n
“It also teaches them about food supply and supporting local Welsh producers.<\/p>\n
“It is really important, as a Welsh business and based locally, that we try to buy as many products\u00a0as we can from Wales\u00a0and its producers.<\/p>\n
“It is about shortening the supply chain and supporting local producers, helping local farmers, communities and businesses, and keeping the pound in Wales.”<\/p>\n
Children attending\u00a0the programme start their day with a healthy breakfast, take part in the activity of the\u00a0day\u00a0and then enjoy a healthy lunch before heading home.<\/p>\n
The youngsters were helped in putting their pizzas together by Ysgol y\u00a0Moelwyn\u00a0teaching assistants Lisa Thomas, Marion\u00a0Hughes\u00a0and Cai Williams.<\/p>\n
Lisa said\u00a0an added advantage of running the programme was that it gave youngsters who would be joining the secondary school in September a chance to get used to the premises and meet new friends.<\/p>\n
She said: “A lot of the children here are coming up from Year 6 at their primary schools\u00a0and will be Year 7 students here in September, so these sessions get them used to this school.<\/p>\n
“It helps give them confidence if they are a bit anxious about coming to a new school, and also a chance to make friends because they are coming from different primary schools, there are six different primary schools in our area.<\/p>\n
“The Food and Fun sessions run for 12 days over three\u00a0weeks\u00a0and it gets them out of the house and off their screens and they are learning new skills, socialising and enjoying different activities.<\/p>\n
“Harlech’s support for the programme is wonderful, you can’t\u00a0fault them.<\/p>\n
“They are an amazing company anyway,\u00a0they supply the school kitchen and work very closely with us and meet our every need as a school.”<\/p>\n
Food and Fun programme coordinator for Gwynedd Council Elliw Lewis Jones thanked Harlech Foodservice for supporting the\u00a0Welsh Government-backed\u00a0initiative.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cAll I can do really is thank Harlech because they have been\u00a0very, very supportive\u00a0of the programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is nice to show the children that food like pizzas can be homemade using nutritious ingredients,\u00a0and they can have fun doing it, rather than just throwing a frozen pizza in to the oven.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pizzas went down a treat with the children.<\/p>\n
Cory, 11, said: “Making the pizzas was really good, I added a lot of ingredients to mine including sweetcorn, chicken, peppers and mushroom.”<\/p>\n
Eleven-year-old Maisie said: “I enjoyed making the pizzas, it has been really good fun.<\/p>\n
“I have made them before, but not in a school, and have\u00a0put sweetcorn and pineapple on mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been at Food and Fun every day and it’s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beca, 11, said: “Making the pizzas was a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have made them before, in Italy on holiday, and at home, and really like them.\u201d<\/p>\n