TV chef cooks up a storm at Maggie's Forth Valley

Chef Ryan Riley stopped by Maggie's Forth Valley with his famous Pineapple Truck

The Saturday Morning Kitchen regular, and Maggie’s Ambassador, visited the local cancer caring centre in Larbert to share his culinary skills with 15 people in a socially distanced outdoor cookery class in its garden.

The Life Kitchen founder said: “My Life Kitchen classes have been on hold because of coronavirus, but as a Maggie’s Ambassador I am delighted to

be able to team up with Maggie’s to tour round five of their UK centres.

"It was fantastic to visit Maggie’s Forth Valley and cook with some of their visitors.

“I know how incredibly important the centres and the support they offer have been for people living with cancer throughout lockdown.

"I hope I was able to spread some cheer and help people undergoing treatment rediscover their love of food.”

Yvonne McIntosh, centre head for Maggie’s Forth Valley, said: “We were delighted to be able to welcome Ryan and his Pineapple Truck to our centre – or at least to the garden.

“Food can be a huge issue for people undergoing treatment so to be able to host a socially-distanced event for people like this at this time was absolutely fantastic.

“We know our centre visitors miss face to face contact so this event helped us give people an opportunity for some normality, while still adhering to all Government guidelines.”

During lockdown Maggie’s has been supporting people with cancer by phone, email and digitally, and the Maggie’s teams have helped people from across the UK 60,000 times with this kind of support since the pandemic began.

The centres are open to see people by appointment and limited drop ins, for those who are visiting hospitals.

At its centres across the country, Maggie’s has developed a programme of support that is proven to help people with cancer and their loved ones take back control.

Maggie’s Forth Valley relies almost entirely on voluntary donations to be able to offer this high quality, professional support.

To find out more about the centre and its work visit www.maggies.org/forthvalley