Easy cooking

A Friday night takeaway for a family of four is rarely under £40 these days. Twice a month, that's nearly £1,000 a year.

There's a quiet kind of stress that comes with trying to feed people on a tight budget. The mental maths at the supermarket. The guilt when the easiest thing is something out of a freezer. The slow drip of "I can't afford a proper meal again" wearing away at how you feel about yourself.

We're not here to tell anyone they shouldn't have a takeaway — sometimes a Parmo on a Friday is what gets you through the week. But knowing how to make one yourself, for a fraction of the cost, is the kind of skill that adds up.

Cooking from scratch is supposed to be the answer — but if you weren't taught it, or never had the kitchen confidence, "just cook" can feel like one more thing you're failing at.

Middlesbrough Community Learning's free Fakeaway course is a gentler way in. It teaches you to make the food people in Middlesbrough actually eat — Parmos, Salt & Pepper Chicken, Tacos, Curry — in your own kitchen, for a fraction of the takeaway price.

No tests. No judgement. Just enough confidence to know you can feed yourself and the people you love without it being a stressful event every time.

It's not about giving up takeaways forever. It's about having the option, on the weeks when £30 for a delivery just isn't there.

Starting Thursday 9th July for 4 weeks 9.30am to 12 midday from our community centre (101 The Greenway, TS3 9PA). For Tees Valley residents aged 19+

Contact Claire for more details:

📞 01642 811400 | ✉️ claire.myers@mcls.ac.uk