A DONATION of £500 has been made to a Basingstoke charity to support its Grow to Go campaign.

Simplyhealth made the donation to Inspero, which works in the local community with young people to promote healthy eating and living through growing and cooking programmes.

The money will be used to provide prizes for the cookery and horticultural workshops run by the charity, called Love2Grow: Love2Cook.

Catherine Waters-Clark, founder of Inspero, said: “Our workshops give young people the opportunity to learn how to grow, nurture and harvest food and then prepare and cook tasty healthy dishes.

“This in turn encourages children to try different vegetables, which they may have previously been reluctant to try.

“We can’t thank Simplyhealth enough for their generous donation. Following in the footsteps of television shows such as MasterChef and The Great British Bake Off, we’ll be able to recognise the fantastic achievements of the junior chefs and young gardeners and reward them with prizes that the whole family can enjoy.”

Mark Hamson, spokesman for Simplyhealth, a health insurance company, added: “We’re delighted to be able to support this scheme, which promotes healthy living to young people in our community, and reward those who shine with family prizes.

“Through workshops like these, it gives young people the opportunity to learn about different foods, gain valuable cooking skills and also have lots of fun.”