Create Space For The Happy Stuff!

Ian Taverner - Mr Cookfulness

About Me

I'm Ian, Mr Cookfulness 

I'm disabled, with chronic illnesses, and cooking really is my go to therapy!

I live with Fibromyalgia, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), Arthritis, Prinzmetal Angina, Anxiety and Depression.

I am the creator and author of Cookfulness, the first ever cookbook designed specifically for people, like me, who suffer with a disability or illness, to help you not only get into the kitchen and cook, but WANT to cook, LOVE to cook and get the amazing therapeutic value cooking can provide!

Through my own battles trying to find ways to cook with chronic pain, fatigue, brain fog, cognitive impairment, limb weakness, anxiety and seizures, I've unpicked and unwound the traditional cookbook, taking away all of the barriers that stand in the way of cooking, replacing them with positive stepping stones, hints and tips to allow you not only to get in/back into the kitchen, but to absolutely love it and use it as part of your daily therapy!

I had a long career in the uber exciting world of Financial Services before my health started to deteriorate.  Slowly at first, over a couple of years, with lots of investigations, procedures, operations, medications all piling up as I got progressively worse.  The more there was, the worse I was getting, and so it went on, until everything finally broke.


I had to give up work and withdrew from virtually all aspects of life.  My family and I refer to this period of time as the Groundhog Years.

Eventually I was referred to the Bath Centre For Pain Services for one of their 4 week residential programmes, and, in May 2019, I shuffled slowly through their doors.  Their brilliant, multi disciplinary approach of Occupational Therapists, Psychologists and Physiotherapists started unlocking doors that had been firmly locked, bolted and barriered within me for years.  Whilst incredibly scary, it was the start of my new life, it was the start of Cookfulness!

Cooking has given me a routine, some pride, some passion, a love for food, a love for myself but, most importantly, it's helped end the Groundhog Years and start a new and exciting time for me and my beautiful family.


The sheer joy I get from making something, anything, is astonishing! It really doesn't matter what you make, what it looks like, the key is that YOU made it and WHATEVER YOU MAKE, IT'S RIGHT!

Celebrate everything, absolutely everything you make, and the positivity will flood through you!

As the book started to raise interest from a wide range of people, charities and organisations, my mechanisms to try to reach and help as many people as I can,  have expanded too..........

I'm very proud to now be designing & delivering cooking & creative therapy workshops, programmes & shows for a huge range of resources across the Disability, Health & Wellbeing sectors in the UK & Internationally.

I'm writing the feature recipes for 2 of the leading disability lifestyle magazines in the UK, PosAbility and Able. 

Best of all, I'm able to use Cookfulness and my passion for all things food and cooking, to help others, others like me, others who find cooking a hateful or painful experience, helping them find absolute Cookfulness cooking joy!

 I've recently been added to the Expert Panel of the amazing campaigns of SimplyVeg & VegPower