Young National Citizens Service volunteers from schools in St Albans created a cookbook to help families in need.

The national programme is delivered locally by Herts County Council for young people aged between 15 and 17. As part of the programme, the volunteers have to undertake a social action project and chose to support the charity Home-Start Herts.

They decided to create a recipe e-book focusing on low-cost, healthy and nutritious meal ideas that Home-Start could use for the charities it supports. Working in teams, the group researched the nutritional value of recipes, cooked, tested and photographed them.

Home-Start strategic manager Suzy Moody said: "When we visited it was amazing, the group were so enthusiastic and passionate about what they were doing."

Once the project is finished, the recipe book will be available on the Home-Start website.