Alison Preston

After 25 years in the catering industry, during which time she was front of house manager in a prestigious Bristol restaurant and owner of her own outside catering business, Alison decided to pursue her love of food and cooking in a different direction and returned to University as a mature student to study nutrition. Alison graduated in 2010 and is now registered with the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN). After graduating from Bath Spa University Alison carried on her studies and completed a post-graduate certificate in Sports Nutrition with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Alison currently works as a freelance nutritionist and has a variety of roles. As well as providing nutritional support for nursery settings in the Bristol and Bath area, Alison has developed and delivers healthy cookery classes in the community for adults with type 2 diabetes and those diagnosed with pre diabetes. These courses have proved popular with clients who have enjoyed creating healthy nutritious food that will help with type 2 diabetes control. Alison has also written an adult weight management programme called HELP, providing solution-focused support to encourage behaviour change.

In Alison's previous experience as a health improvement practitioner, she coordinated and delivered family cookery courses and programmes such as Henry (Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young). Being a part of these programmes highlighted for Alison the difficulties in changing established eating patterns and the importance of developing healthy eating habits in the early years.

Alison enjoys delivering training and has recently obtained registration to provide training courses for The Royal Society of Public Health.

Alison’s favourite quote "There’s no such thing as a super food just a super balanced diet”