STUDENTS who picked up new skills during lockdown were congratulated by the Mayor of Bolton Cllr Linda Thomas.

For despite all the hardships posed by the pandemic, Bolton based Community Film Art & Media CIC reached out to the most hard to contact students to engage them in courses via online platform Zoom.

They took part in live and recorded cooking sessions.

Following the lifting of restrictions, the students were able to celebrate their success, and some of the individuals received their certificates of achievement.

Altogether, 81 learners have benefited during the pandemic and 70 of the women progressed to further learning in food and art courses.

All of the students achieved six ASDAN credits that will be recognised by educational establishments as they seek to find opportunities in further education ­— or even go on to start their own businesses.

The students said they loved being taught as part of a virtual group, and told how they had increased their self-confidence as a result.

Anisa Patel said: “I really enjoyed this course, it has been very informative and enjoyable. It has enabled me to gain more confidence. In fact I have now started my own ‘ khaman’ (Indian dish) business.”

Saima Rashid added: This course taught me many things which I did not know before, it helped me build confidence within myself to cook more unique recipes. I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it.”

Sanaa Makkan said: “Before I started this course I was not confident in cooking in the kitchen, simply because I hated it.

“But seeing other women share their pictures of food they had made inspired me to get up and make something.

“Doing this has made me lot more confident in making food for my family. The course has also been fun, watching someone making food.”

Community Film Art & Media was founded by Gulnaz Brennan and reached out to communities to make a difference.