Back in February, the Old Fire Station was buzzing with more than just the smell of great food. We gathered a group of passionate community cooks for a transformative day of filming, plating up, and digital storytelling. 

The goal? To bridge the gap between traditional cooking skills and the modern digital world. 

Learning from a Pro 

Guided by the brilliant Niki Webster (Rebel Recipes), our participants dived headfirst into the world of mobile-only videography and recipe curation. Niki has built a global following through her stunning plant-based content and cookbooks. On the day, she showed the group that you don’t need a big budget to share a powerful food story—you just need a smartphone, good lighting, and a bit of creative confidence. 

Using just their mobile phones, participants learned how to: 

• Master Lighting & Composition: Making every ingredient pop, even in a busy community kitchen to help capture the perfect ‘sizzle’ shot. 
• Pro-Level Styling: Using simple props and styling to tell a visual story. 
• Social Media Storytelling: Creating/editing engaging, short-form videos that inspire others to get cooking and bring their unique recipes to life. 

Why This Matters 

Oxfordshire is home to an incredible network of community food projects, from community kitchens to food larders. By training this group of local foodies in digital content creation, we are helping to: 

• Preserve Culinary Heritage: Documenting traditional recipes that might otherwise be lost. 
• Promote Food Justice: Making healthy, sustainable, and affordable cooking accessible and appealing through social media. 
• Strengthen Our Network: Giving community groups the 'digital megaphone' and platform they deserve. 

Our Project Lead, who organised the session, reflected on why this training is a vital step for our network:

‘At Good Food Oxfordshire (GFO), we’re investing in our local community food network by helping people build new skills that strengthen a more resilient, connected food support system across the county.

Alongside traditional in-person cooking workshops, we’re also exploring different approaches—like digital skills training—to help community cooks share their knowledge, reach wider audiences, and support one another beyond physical spaces. It’s a small shift, but one that we hope will make a big difference.’—Caroline Welch, Project Lead at GFO.

Impact Beyond the Kitchen 

These community cooks are now equipped to share their culinary heritage and healthy eating tips with a much wider audience online. By digitising their skills, we’re ensuring that Oxfordshire’s rich food culture is preserved and shared across our community. 

‘I learnt so much, not only about how to capture more interesting content, but of the movements, missions and magic happening in this city for healthier and more sustainable futures. Wonderful to meet some amazing women from this sector and learn some new skills along the way.’—Helen Thompson, participant.

You can also watch a video Helen did of the session here.

Coming Soon: Learn at Home! 

Missed out on the live session? Don’t worry! We want these skills to be accessible to everyone. 

We are currently putting the finishing touches on a FREE training video captured during the workshop. This resource will guide you through the same professional techniques Niki shared with our cohort, allowing you to level up your food content at your own pace. Keep an eye out for the announcement of our new Training Page in our newsletter—it will be live very soon!