Cooking on a Budget and Staying Safe Online, A Brilliant Day with Our Young People
On Saturday 1st November 2025, our Youth Engagement Team hosted a fantastic hands-on session at the Three Circles Fostering office. The day focused on two important areas for young people—managing money and staying safe online—with plenty of fun, teamwork, and practical learning along the way.
This event is part of our ongoing commitment to empowering young people with real-life skills, digital awareness, and the confidence to navigate the world safely and independently.
Budgeting Challenge: Cooking a Meal for £5
We kicked off the day with a creative and practical budgeting activity—could the young people create a full meal for just £5?
Working in pairs, participants were challenged to choose between cooking chilli or spaghetti bolognese, using beef, quorn, or another mince of their choice. To make the activity as realistic as possible, the group headed to Lidl to shop for their ingredients. With a shopping list that included staples like mince, onions, pasta, rice, kidney beans, and tinned tomatoes, the young people were encouraged to:
Compare prices
Make smart choices
Prioritise essentials
Manage their budget carefully
Any money saved could be used to buy extra ingredients—or even a dessert.
Back at the office, a full safety briefing was given before everyone rolled up their sleeves and got cooking. Recipes were provided, but each pair added their own flair and teamwork to the task. The activity ended with a shared lunch where everyone enjoyed the meals they had prepared.
What the Young People Learned
After reflecting on the challenge, we found that two out of five groups stayed within their £5 budget—a great achievement for a first attempt! The discussions that followed included:
How small ingredient swaps can make a big difference
Ways to stretch a budget further
The value of comparing prices and choosing sensible alternatives
This hands-on experience gave our young people practical insight into everyday budgeting—one of the most important life skills they can develop.
Online Safety: Understanding Today’s Digital Challenges
After lunch, the group took part in an online safety workshop designed to help young people make informed, safe decisions in digital spaces.
The session covered:
How to create strong, secure passwords
Spotting scams and phishing attempts
The risks linked to sexting and sharing explicit images
The legal consequences of certain online behaviours
How to stay safe when talking to new people online
Young people engaged brilliantly with the content, asking thoughtful questions and showing a real awareness of the importance of online safety in today’s fast-paced digital world.
Introducing the New Youth Connect App
To finish off the session, we were excited to introduce our brand-new Youth Connect app—a digital tool designed to help young people:
Communicate safely
Report concerns
Access support
Stay connected with trusted adults
The group explored how the app works and the many ways it can help them feel more supported and confident.
We’re looking forward to seeing how the app grows and how it supports our young people in the months ahead.
We’re incredibly proud of the engagement, honesty, and teamwork shown by everyone who took part. Sessions like this strengthen not only life skills, but confidence, resilience, and connection within our Three Circles community.