A PLANT-based Taster Party was held at Teignmouth’s Alice Cross Centre last weekend.

The Alice and The WholeLife Course joined forces to present an event judged a huge success and very much enjoyed by those who attended.

The centre’s a vision is ‘to be the community centre of choice for improved health and wellbeing for all’, and Saturday’s event was one of a variety of different activities designed to help people move more, eat well and meet together.

Julia Street, general manager, said on the day: ‘I’m delighted to pick up from the 30-day plant-based food challenge that we ran in conjunction with the NHS and other volunteer organisations in 2020.

‘More than 30 people attended Saturday’s plant-based Taster Party to learn more about what The Alice Cross Centre does and more about the WholeLife Programme and plant-based eating. I really hope this will be the launch of more demonstrations and information days on a number of different subjects.’

Centre co-ordinator Alison Fenton said: ‘The fun and informative event brought together details about the highly popular and well-supported WholeLife course, discussion about diet in a wider sense and talks about eating a plant-based diet. That’s not to mention Catherine’s tasty Tip Top Tempeh, the scrumptious food brought along by participants for the Bake-off and the excellent plant-based chilli and spaghetti dishes cooked and shared by Lisa and Alison. Importantly, too, it gave participants somewhere to meet up and discuss their‘plant-based journeys, while enjoying all the lovely food on offer!’

WholeLife is a course that began in the Coastal Primary Care Network in Devon. The aim is lifestyle longevity; living long and healthy lives through whole-food, whole-grain, plant-based eating, daily activity and connecting with one another and the planet. This course is suitable for every adult and further details can be found on their website www.wholelifeplantbased.com. WholeLife is free for those within the Coastal PCN (Dawlish and Teignmouth GP practices) to access.

Jane Kostelnik, the GP running the WholeLife course from Barton Surgery in Dawlish, said: ‘Today’s community event demonstrates the ‘appetite’ for a plant-based diet, which is becoming rapidly more popular. The WholeLife course is a unique NHS opportunity for people to learn about the large amounts of evidence demonstrating the positive effects of a plant-based diet.’

The centre said huge thanks must go to all the staff and volunteers – Julia, Alison, Jane K, Brigi, Janet, Jo, Jane, Sue, Sheila, Dave, Ed and Eileen from both The Alice and WholeLife for making this event such a success.

Julia added: ‘If you know anyone who might benefit from any of our services or if you would like to offer your time as a volunteer to support the work of The Alice Cross, even for just an hour or two a week, please get in touch with us on 01626 778039 or email [email protected].’

=For more information go to www.thealicecross.co.uk or facebook.co.uk/alicecrosscentre.