Ten years of Wellbeing for Life: A four-week cooking course was Richard’s ‘stepping stone to the future’

As part of the Wellbeing for Life (WBFL) Ten-year Anniversary celebrations, we caught up with a previous client to see how the service has positively impacted his life.

Richard Judd first met WBFL through the community work he was doing in the Consett and Leadgate area. He set up a running club for people hadn’t really done much running before, and contacted the service to say he has a group which people could be signposted to. As time went on, Richard worked alongside Julie, now Coordinator at WBFL, on other community projects.

Richard then started to struggle with his mental health. There were challenges in his personal life, Covid happened, and he was living and working in one room. Richard said of this time: “I was struggling to find the way forward; one day I woke up and just didn’t want to be here anymore.” It took him some years to seek support, but when he did, he spoke to Julie. Julie put him in touch with Wellbeing Practitioner Wendy. He met with Wendy once a week for six weeks at Glenroyd House just to talk – Wendy did not counsel him, she just listened.

This resulted in Richard joining a WBFL four-week basic cooking course. Full of joy, Richard said of this: “I’ve still got the handouts from it even now.”

Richard speaking about his experience with WBFL

The cooking course was all about confidence for Richard. He said: “I hadn’t cooked for the best part of 15 years. So, I lost the confidence to cook even the most basic things, even cooking eggs.”

By week four, he was cracking eggs into a big pan on the stove. Richard describes this as: “A small thing, but it was absolutely amazing.” Those four weeks have stayed with Richard over the years, and were, as he says, “a stepping stone to the future.”

Richard still uses his experience with the course to combat those times when he may be struggling mentally. He said: “Now cooking for me is one of my activities. I can be having a bad day, go and cook something, and by the time I’ve finished, I’ve changed my mood completely. And I’ve got a positive result as well.”

It’s wonderful to hear Richard talk about the positive improvements in his mental wellbeing. WBFL is a service that is here to make positive changes to both physical and mental wellbeing across County Durham. When talking of the impact, Richard said: “That wouldn’t have been possible without Wendy. In many ways, Wendy saved my life.” Richard still has the recipe booklet and uses it “all the time”. Using one big pan, he can cook a wide range of meals. His favourite from the course is the ‘Spanish Eggs’; the recipe he learned on the final week. The one that gave him his confidence. Talking about this, he said: “If you spoke to me when I first walked through that door [to the first session] – when I was very, very nervous walking through that door – I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Wellbeing for Life is part of Adult Wellbeing Services and is delivered in partnership by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) and the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP).