John Mousinho put his baking skills to the test at a youth cooking session as part of the EFL Week of Action.
The head coach dropped in on one of the Pompey in the Community (PitC) ‘Extra-Time’ cooking sessions, helping local children with their baking and culinary skills, before taking time to engage with the fans.
“I really enjoyed it,” said the Blues boss. “It was brilliant to come down and see the kids first of all, but then see them leave with cupcakes that they’d made. They were all absolutely buzzing.
“Initiatives like this are maybe things that we don’t necessarily see week in, week out, but the things that are going on in this community make a huge difference for the kids and adults alike all around the city.”
Funded by Portsmouth City Council, the weekly session offers children the chance to learn essential life skills, teaches them how to use kitchen appliances and improve their cooking – or sometimes even try it for the first time.
"Initiatives like this are maybe things that we don’t necessarily see week in, week out, but the things that are going on in this community make a huge difference."
PitC's head of community development Taylor Monk added: “We’re looking at providing diverse activities and doing something different to get the children off the street and into something they’re interested in.
"But more importantly for us, it’s about providing them with access to essential life skills, hence why we’re in the kitchen for this particular project.”
The session initially started during the Covid-19 pandemic, where PitC created a digital response by proving resources and appliances at people’s homes, enabling them to then deliver the youth engagement cooking programme over Zoom.
Following the success of the programme, it now runs weekly at the PitC hub and is one of many projects on offer.
“Our youngest participant is three and our oldest is 104,” said Monk. “So we run a number of activities offering something for everyone. We’re an island city, but the element is really homegrown, so that people understand what Pompey is as a culture.
“Typically everyone associates us with football, but actually football is just the catalyst to get people involved.”
Coaching: ✅
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) November 8, 2023
Baking: 🤷
🧑🍳 Take a look at how John Mousinho fared at @PompeyITC's 'Extra Time' session#EFLWeekOfAction // #Pompey pic.twitter.com/g90aF2UQa6