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Imogen the Christmas Chef

It was during the pandemic that Imogen's parents realised cooking could help with signs of autism: a food delivery to their Yorkshire home sparked chatter and quickly led to change

Five year old Chef Imogen is well known in her local community of Pudsey, on the outskirts of Leeds. Soon after she was born, her parents, Danny and Mandy, were told that she was possibly autistic and she鈥檚 been diagnosed with global development delay. For a long time she didn't utter a word. It was during covid that the family noticed how animated and verbal she became when confronted with food and especially baking. Her love of cooking has brought great changes in her life, she now talks fluently about all manner of recipes and this Christmas she has planned a special celebration

In this edition of The Untold, Rob Lawrie, who lives close to the family and got to hear about what was happening, joins them as they unveil their plans: Chef Imogen will be selling cakes at Yorkshire food markets and using the money to buy presents for the residents of a local old peoples home. As Christmas Day draws near, Imogen worries that she might not meet her ambitious targets, but then a strange thing happens: word of the venture spreads and those Christmas pop-ups lead to some surprising development

Reporter: Rob Lawrie
Producer: Sue Mitchell

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28 minutes

Last on

Boxing Day 2022 20:00

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  • Boxing Day 2022 20:00

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