INTERNATIONAL cuisine was cooked up to celebrate the cultural diversity in Wood Farm.

The Wood Farm Girls Group held an international evening at the youth centre, in Titup Hall Drive, where parents cooked up culinary delights including onion bhajis and salt fish fritters.

Donations of clothing, plus dried and tinned food, were also packed in a barrel which will be shipped to Jamaica, where its contents will support a disadvantaged family of nine.

About 20 girls aged between 10 and 14 years old attend the group, whose parents hail from countries such as Jamaica, St Vincent, Hawaii, China, the United States, Canada, Egypt and Sudan.

Karis Daniels, 28, of Chillingworth Crescent, helped to organise the event after seeing deprived communities in Jamaica when visiting her family. She said: “My opinion is that children today do not realise how lucky they are when they live in England.”

Miss Daniels, who is also an anti-knife crime campaigner following the murder of her brother Blayne Ridgway in Oxford in 2010, added: “They do not understand how other people struggle and can take things for granted.

“Things we waste over here could clothe and feed an entire family.”

She said: “We looked at how some people are not as fortunate as us and have packed stuff in a barrel which will be sent to the family in Jamaica.”

During the international evening youngsters showed off their handiwork by wearing masks styled on different counties’ flags, as well as jewellery they had crafted. The event, which took place on Tuesday night, also received backing from Labour councillor for Churchill ward Susan Brown.

She said: “There is some sterling youth work being done in Wood Farm that we are very keen to support.

“We were really pleased about the event, which I hope was a really enjoyable evening and they got a lot out of it.

“It is a very diverse community so events like this are always welcome.”

  • Our top stories: