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Food is vital to our physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. It’s a form of expression, connecting with others, and feeling like ‘ourselves’.

At Brainkind, the UK’s leading charity supporting people with brain injuries and other neurological conditions, we think the people we support should have a say about what they eat. That’s why we started our Golden Whisk Awards.

Whisking up joy
Each year, chefs and people we support work together to co-produce exciting menus for the competition. They think about the food we serve, where our ingredients come from, and the ‘dining experience’ - from tablecloths to music.

The judges include speech and language therapists as well as the people we support. Together, they rate the entries, considering whether the menu reflects what’s important to people and if it includes family recipes, how it makes people feel, and whether it supports their identities.

For people who have difficulty swallowing, our chefs have shown amazing creativity, thinking about dignity in dining and designing meals that are safe, and look and taste delicious.

Judges also consider sustainability, prompting many of our services to start vegetable patches, tended by the people we support.

Influencing good practice
We’ve also started a Golden Whisk Best Practice Forum. This brings together chefs and people we support to learn from each other and share what’s worked for them, discussing topics from modified foods to the culinary calendar. It’s chaired by Dean, who we support. Dean told us how important it is for the people we support to have their say.

Charles, our chef at Fen House in Ely, agrees:
“I enjoy connecting with like-minded chefs across the country, exchanging tips to make our food the best it can be for the people we support."