A pensioner has proved age is no barrier to learning after heading back to the classroom to tackle a one-day food safety course.
Phil Batty, 77, from Parkway, in Rhos-on-Sea attended the Food Safety in Catering course organised by housing association Cartrefi Conwy.
The busy pensioner regularly helps out and serves food at the housing estate’s Happy Friday Club which meets weekly in the community centre.
Phil said: “I’m secretary of the Happy Friday Club and, as we average 26 people at our weekly meetings, I thought it a good idea to go on the course.
“We get a really good turn-out every week and not just from Cartrefi Conwy tenants. We put on refreshments including biscuits and cakes and things like hot-dogs, soup and stuff like that. So it’s important we know about food safety and hygiene. That’s why I went on the course.
“I’m also chair of the Parkway Coffee Club which meets every Tuesday and Saturday. And as we do a fair bit of catering it was important to make sure we get it right.”
Phil, a Cartrefi Conwy tenant, added: “The course was all simple, but important, stuff, like keeping food at the right temperature and where to store things in the fridge. Nothing difficult but things that are so easy to get wrong. It’s brilliant Cartrefi Conwy arranges these courses for tenants.
“It means we don’t have to get a caterer in to provide food for everyone when we hold an event or run a club. And that means it isn’t so expensive for everyone.”
And Phil has now signed up for his first acting role, playing a part in a murder mystery event that will be held at a Llandudno hotel later this month.
He said: “I hope I don’t forget my lines! My late wife, Loma, appeared as an extra in Last of the Summer Wine, Coronation Street, Open all Hours, Emmerdale, Sherlock Holmes and a few others productions.
“I do have everything to put on a full Punch and Judy show including the ‘fit-up’ which is what the covered stage for the puppets is called. I have put on a show for the Coffee Club and everyone loved it. I would do a few shows for other functions if I was asked.”
He added: “We moved to North Wales from Yorkshire as our son, Philip, moved here to work at Theatr Colwyn after seeing an advert in Stage magazine. He’s now the theatre manager.
“I’m also on the Committee of Friends of Theatre Colwyn and also work as a steward for shows and screenings. It’s a bit different than what I used to do before I retired.
“I was a proof reader at The Yorkshire Evening Post and then the Yorkshire Post. I did 22 years working nights at the Yorkshire Post after 12 years on days at the Evening Post.”
He added: “I really miss Loma. We used to go around old people’s homes, she would play the keyboard and I’d sing. All the money we raised went to St David’s Hospice at Llandudno.”
Nerys Veldhuizen, Cartrefi Conwy Older Person Engagement Co-Ordinator, is delighted that Phil joined others tenants on the course.
She said: “It’s really important that tenants take these opportunities and take up training which they can then bring back into the community.
“As Phil, and his fellow tenants, have been on and passed the Food Safety in Catering course it means they can prepare and serve food at the clubs and functions they are involved in.
“And it isn’t just catering. We will shortly be starting digital inclusion courses designed to help older people in particular use computers, something which is important in what is a digital age.”
She added: “Phil is such an inspiration. He is fully involved in the community and is always busy. He is an absolute star and really involves himself in what is going on around parkway.”
Chris Bradley, the Independent Living Coordinator at Parkway, explained that tenants who took the course are now able to fill the catering needs of the clubs and events they themselves run.
She said: “Everyone really enjoyed the one-day course and I think they were all surprised at how much they learnt. It now means they can prepare food for the clubs and events they are involved in at their individual community centres.
“It means they don’t have to bring in an outside caterer and therefore it means that the cost of running events and clubs is much cheaper.
“Two tenants of Maes Cwstennin sheltered accommodation, Llandudno Junction, two tenants of Bryn Castell, Llanfairfechan and two tenants of Parkway, Rhos-on-Sea took the North Wales Training organised course and all passed with flying colours.”
Dianne Wright, 67, who lives with her husband at Maes Cwstennin sheltered accommodation at Llandudno Junction, really enjoyed the course.
She said: “It was really interesting and informative. We learnt simple things like where to store cooked and un-cooked meat, important things but so easy to get wrong. And we covered a range of issues about food preparation and hygiene too.
According to housewife and carer, Elaine Davies, 55, a Cartrefi Conwy tenant who also lives on the Parkway estate, the Food Safety in Catering course was excellent.
She said: “It means when I’m involved in providing catering for events at our community centre I know I can be confident handling food and I’m, hopefully, doing things that bit safer.”
