Registrations for this event are now closed.
You’re invited to join Beyond Five Ambassador, Julie McCrossin AM, at 11am (AEST) on Sunday, 26 July for a live online Soup for the Soul cooking workshop as part of our World Head and Neck Cancer Day activities.
Join our special guests including Yvonne McClaren from Adelaide who will talk about her journey learning to eat again, chewing, swallowing and preparing food from scratch after treatment for head and neck cancer in 2018 and discover more about fermenting food from former MasterChef 2019 contestant, Mandy Hall, all while watching our guests prepare a couple of their favourite soups.
Participants will also have the chance to ask Darcy Jongebloed, a clinical dietitian from the Peter Mac Cancer Centre in Melbourne, questions about nutrition before, during and after treatment for head and neck cancer.
Tickets to the Soup for the Soul Live Online Cooking Workshop are free, however, donations to help fund our work to educate, support and reduce the cancer burden in some of the most disenfranchised cancer patients are gratefully received.
We look forward to you joining us.
julie mccrossin AM
Beyond Five Ambassador, former head and neck cancer patient and broadcaster.
mandy hall
MasterChef Australia 2019 Contestant, author and founder of Love Ferments and Food .
yvonne mcclaren
Former head and neck cancer patient, author and founder of The Food Manifesto, yoga and kickboxing addict.
darcy jongebloed
Clinical Dietitian at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and former instructor for Jamie Oliver’s Australian Ministry of Food.
Learn more about our Special Guests
Darcy Jongebloed, Dietitian, Peter Mac Cancer Centre
Darcy Jongebloed is a Clinical Dietitian at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne and has always been interested in food.
“I have always been a huge foodie. My mum instilled in me from a young age the importance of home cooked nutritious meals.
“I work at Peter Mac helping people with head and neck cancer through their treatment including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, and I have a particular interest in helping people manage feeding tubes like PEGS and Nasogastric tubes.
“Being able to eat and drink is something I think many people take for granted. Food is so much more than just energy and nutrients and I always want to help people get back to enjoying food as much as they can. Supporting people over their entire journey of treatment really matters to me.
"I love being able to talk about food all day, and working with people to help them stay well nourished and strong before, during and after cancer treatment. Seeing the resilience and what people are capable of when faced with cancer, is truly inspiring.
“Prior to Peter Mac I was a cooking teacher at Jamie’s Ministry of Food in Geelong, working with people of all ages, from diverse backgrounds and with varying cooking capabilities, to encourage them to stay in the kitchen and keep their cooking skills alive!
“I’m very excited to be joining an inspiring group of people in Beyond Five’s Soup for the Soul Online Cooking Segment and look forward to sharing some nutrition tips for people living with head and neck cancer.”
Yvonne McClaren, Former head and neck cancer patient, author and founder of The Food Manifesto
A yoga and kickboxing addict with a wicked sense of humour and a passion for food, wine and cooking, 54-year-old Yvonne McClaren from Adelaide was living in Vietnam when she returned to Australia to find out she had tonsil cancer in November 2018.
“I don’t think anyone can prepare you for the diagnosis, treatment or recovery as everyone is different in terms of how they react and heal.
"I was the first head and neck cancer patient at Calvary North Adelaide Hospital to receive surgery with the da Vinci®Xi robot, followed by six weeks of chemotherapy and 30 sessions of radiotherapy.
"When I woke after surgery I was in shock. I couldn’t speak or swallow. It was frightening. It was all so foreign to me. The nursing staff were brilliant. “My surgeon, Dr Andrew Foreman, suggested I have a PEG put in my stomach while I healed and transitioned to solid food. It was a good thing I had it put in as it was to be my best friend for the next 15 months."
You can also read Yvonne’s full story here.
Mandy Hall, Former MasterChef Contestant and Author of Love Ferments and Food
When Mandy Hall left a career in media and management fifteen years ago, she had one thing firmly on her mind. Food!
“I decided from that day on, my life was always going to revolve around food in some way. And it has. Inspired by the positive impact food had on loved ones, Mandy threw herself into the study of Gastronomy.
“When my son became sick, I became obsessed with things like sourcing produce and sustainability. I would wake up with recipe books lying across my face. I tried new cuisines. I ate dishes I still can’t pronounce and signed up for any cooking course I could find. And as my son got better, I realised my own life had changed too.
“Food brings about human connection. Food makes us smile and encourages sharing and creates an environment for real conversation. I love nothing more than cooking a feast for family and friends. I think that is one of the gifts of food – it creates memories.”
Mandy has become increasingly active in creating recipes and uses for the whole ingredient and is passionate about fermentation and preservation.
Mandy’s achievements over the past 15 years read like a Foodie’s Bucket List. She’s been a Masterchef Contestant, Yoga Teacher, emcee of industry and charity events, consulted to leading producers and filled enough fermenting jars to feed most of Europe.
She’s also become an Ambassador for causes close to her heart, conducted countless workshops and cooking demonstrations, assisted at special dinners, curated exclusive menus and cooked restaurant dinners, and continues to cook and consult at the 2019 Australian Property of The Year – The Longhouse – Daylesford. Mandy regularly works behind the scenes doing research for the Maggie Beer Foundation and is a loud and proud Ambassador and Educator for Foodbank South Australia.