A COMMUNITY kitchen has been created to serve wholesome food and equip volunteers with new skills that could help them land a job.

The kitchen at the One Point Centre, on Chapel Street, Willington, will initially open on Fridays to sell healthy lunches to people accessing its child and family based services.

If there is sufficient demand the hours could be extended.

Organisers hope the lure of a tasty meal will encourage more people to make use of the centre and its services which range from family support to internet and cookery courses.

They also want to recruit volunteers to work in the kitchen who will have the chance to gain basic food safety training which along with the experience could make them more employable.

The community kitchen was officially opened on Friday, May 1 and was immediately given a boost by Tesco Bishop Auckland which donated it a £20 voucher.

Matthew Todd, a volunteer, said: “The hope is that the kitchen will bring people into the centre where they can find out about its services.

“More volunteers are needed and they could gain valuable skills and experience that are useful at home and when applying for jobs.”