Christmas lunch (project) with people with Learning Disabilities

A personal account

The project’s aim was to spend a day contributing to a charity committed to supporting adults with learning disabilities in the city of Westminster by putting on a Christmas lunch in the run up to Christmas (mid December). I offered to cook a starter for this, which involved planning a suitable recipe (carrot and coriander soup in this instance), acquiring the necessary ingredients, preparing and cooking the soup with fantastic assistance from the others in the volunteering team, and serving the dish. After serving the starter, I worked with the rest of the team in serving up the two remaining courses, and then meeting and interacting with the people with learning disabilities.

The thoroughly enjoyable day has given me plenty to take back to my role within Government: enhanced teamwork and leadership skills, as well as relationship building, planning, organizing and time management techniques. On top of this, I pushed myself to go out of my comfort zone and do something that I never had done before.

The speeches made by the members of the group were very touching. On a personal note, receiving a round of applause for my starter has to be the highlight of my modest culinary career - and it got better when I was given a piece of art from one of the girls to say thank you! There was a feeling of genuine team spirit within the group I was working with – despite coming in as an outsider I felt immediately at ease.

Outcomes & Benefits

• Honed leadership skills & increased morale
• Increased confidence in working with new client groups
• Greater awareness of needs of people with learning disabilities
• New ideas to take back into own organisation