From September I want to run virtual bread classes for people who are at risk of social isolation and living in areas of Liverpool considered to be ‘in need’. These classes will increase access to tasty, nutritious bread made from quality ingredients by teaching the skills needed to produce it.

Using Zoom, myself and 18 participants (3 x classes of 6 people) will start with a simple sourdough rye bread and talk about the benefits of home baking, wholegrain flours and traceable ingredients as well as anything else food and non-food related that anyone wants to talk about.

Class participants will be identified and contacted in collaboration with Rotunda (https://www.therotunda.org.uk), who specialise in adult education, skills and training. We have identified two groups to work with. The first consists of young people with autism and ADHD. The second are adults aged 24 plus who were recently given digital technology to prevent digital isolation and to help them become more confident when working and communicating online.

All class participants will be provided with the ingredients and any extra materials they need to take part. These will be delivered to participants homes the day before the workshop. Class participants will receive a small amount of sourdough starter that they will feed the evening before the class so that they can use it to make their bread. They will also receive an email outlining how the class will run, what it will entail, start and finish times etc.

The evening before the workshop we will all meet for 10 minutes on zoom to ensure that participants are familiar with the technology and that there are minimal technical issues on the day of the workshop.

Ordinarily these classes would take place in a kitchen, but there are many benefits to learning at home. I’ve taken lots of different types of bread classes and I believe that once you have figured out how to make bread at home you are more likely to continue doing it.