Cooking with Confidence: A cooking club program for all abilities

Canterbury League Club’s basement prep kitchen has recently been ablaze with eager students from Participate Australia learning fundamental cooking skills from former chef, Canterbury Food & Beverage General Manager, Stephanie Azar.

Participate Australia is a local not-for-profit organisation that supports people with intellectual disabilities and their ‘Cooking Club’ program has been a mainstay at Canterbury for several years now.

In this six-week program, participants get to learn cooking skills from volunteer Canterbury chefs in a professional production kitchen. Some of the menu items that they have made from scratch include cheeseburgers, scones, spring rolls, Thai beef salad, and sticky mango rice.

“The cooking program aims to teach participants with intellectual disabilities essential cooking skills that promote independence in everyday life, focusing on transferable skills that they can use daily,” said Stephanie Azar.

The course is structured to help participants develop or reinforce skills such as literacy and numeracy, safe food handling and hygiene, communication, teamwork, portion control, and making positive nutritional choices.

“It’s not just about learning recipes; it’s about building confidence, making friends, and discovering the joy of creating something delicious together,” said Stephanie. “Everyone has a place here, and everyone is learning and growing side by side.”