A catering firm which provides school meals in Dorset has served up some advice across the Channel.

Local Food Links, which has been providing hot school meals in Dorset for more than 10 years, has been sharing knowledge and experience to help a venture on Jersey. Primary schools on the island currently have no hot meals provision and Melissa Nobrega, social entrepreneur and founder and chief executive of Caring Cooks of Jersey, hopes to replicate the Local Food Links model.

She said: “Like Local Food Links, I am very focussed on childhood nutrition. Obesity rates on Jersey are high and this is something my organisation wants to change. Currently 5,500 packed lunches are eaten every day and we’d love to be able to offer a balanced and nutritious alternative.”

Bridport-based Local Food Links has developed a model that enables small, rural schools without kitchens of their own to enjoy freshly prepared meals. Chief executive Caroline Morgan said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Melissa to Bridport. We share a passion for feeding children well and We have found an original way to give Dorset children the excellent meals they deserve; to spread this success to Jersey would be fantastic.”