Making a Difference - Community Food and Health

Workshop Two: Food, health and homelessness
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Mandy Ramage and Diane Hendry, Randolph Crescent Hostel, Edinburgh
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This workshop allowed participants to hear about the Randolph Crescent Hostel which
provides support to people who are in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. Mandy
delivers a participatory education programme around cooking skills, budgeting for food,
and basic nutrition to people using the service. The hostel is also developing a market
garden and this workshop provided an opportunity to learn and share experiences from
this work.
This workshop focused on sharing information regarding their programme of support, a
12- week programme for recovery and support which began in 2007. To obtain a
placement on the programme, the residents must have a referral from their GP, harm
protection worker, social worker or a through a court referral. People are unable to selfrefer
and must be over 18 years of age.
Activities begin every morning of the programme and include alternative/natural therapies;
discussions such as reasons for developing an addiction; physical activity; and a
participatory education programme.
Participatory Education Programme
The following is an example of activity in this programme: Food Skills Course. At the
beginning of the programme it is common that residents are unable to cook. However after
a period of experimenting with cooking different recipes each night their skills develop and
improve. Sometimes the residents experience tasting some food items for the first time,
e.g. fish such as salmon, or vegetables such as peppers. The residents are also shown
how to budget their money for spending on food by planning their daily meals and writing
their own weekly shopping list. The hostel currently has facilities to grow herbs in window
boxes and is planning to develop a market garden in order to plant and grow seasonal
organic vegetables in 2009. Due to limited resources, the staff are currently unable to
formally monitor or evaluate the food skills course. However, staff have received excellent
feedback from the participants about how helpful and beneficial the programme is in
gaining a life skill.
The success rate of the whole programme is high, with residents generally going on to be
re-housed and live independently. The realisation of positive outcomes from the
participatory education programme around cooking skills, budgeting for food, and basic
nutrition occurred to the team when the participants were re-housed. Previous participants
reported that they have been cooking with friends and passing on their recipes.