Elderly residents on an Oxford estate will be served up recipe inspiration and budgeting tips to help them manage money and mealtimes.

A successful community cookery class is being rolled out to the elderly residents of Alice and Margaret House in Rose Hill.

After well-received sessions teaching mums with young children how to cook cheap and healthy dinners, Oxford Brookes University students Julia Hayes and Monika Kozlak will now embark on the new project.

Before the cookery classes get started the pair, who are studying nutrition and business, will go along to the weekly Alice and Margaret House coffee morning in Desborough Crescent on Tuesday, February 28, to discuss what their students would like to see on the menu.

Ms Hayes, 44, said: “We want to tailor the course to their needs.”

And according to Carol Roberts from the Rose Hill and Donnington Advice Centre older people sometimes struggle with budgeting because they’re used to popping to the nearest shop on a daily basis.

Recently the centre helped a retired Rose Hill couple in their late 60s apply for a debt relief order after they ended up owing more than £8,000.

Ms Roberts said: “When you’re a pensioner you’ve got no expectation of extra money, you’ve got your pension and that’s it.

“The only way they could get extra money was by loans, but now they have no debt after a successful debt relief order.

“We’re trying to help them stick to a budget and we’re talking to them about the way they do their shopping.

“It’s a change of style for them because they were used to fresh produce every day and we’re talking to them about frozen food and bulk buying.”

The sessions at Alice and Margaret House will be open to all the residents who live there.

Ms Hayes added: “The feedback we’ve had from community worker Fran Gardner is that there’s a lot of older men whose wives have died and they haven’t learned to cook and aren’t confident.

“So the aim of our course, if they are in agreement, is to prepare food on a budget that’s nutritious.”

Ms Hayes and Ms Kozlak will use the communal kitchens at the Desborough Crescent sheltered accommodation flats for the classes with ingredients provided by Sainsbury’s in Heyford Hill.

They’ll also be holding cookery demonstrations when the health bus arrives at The Oval on Friday, February 24.