Galloway Cheddar take cheese initiative to the next level
The project includes a weeklong event in Dumfries which aims to bring communities together
Last updated 9th Nov 2023
Galloway Cheddar is delivering a week of hot cheese based meals at Summerhill Community Centre in Dumfries, as part of a wider ‘Galloway Gathering Project’ initiative which looks to tackle loneliness and food poverty throughout May.
Run in partnership with food distribution charity FareShare, the cheese supplier is offering a different meal each day, prepared by volunteers at the community centre.
Organisers are promoting 'togetherness' through food
Hundreds of families and individuals are expected to gather over food, dancing, and games throughout the week, including centre regulars as well as newcomers. Keen to bring communities together and tackle the cost of living, volunteers are inviting locals of all demographics to get involved.
Annemarie Coulter, youth and volunteer community development co-ordinator from Summerhill Community Centre said: “There's something for every age, every day.
"We had one big event all day on the Monday, and it was fantastic but we then had people contacting us on the Tuesday, the Wednesday, the Thursday, and we thought why not make it a whole week and put on lots of different activities.
"Hopefully we can have more people come in. It’s really important to bring people together at this time, when there’s an absolute cost of living crisis."
"There are lots of opportunities here to sprinkle some happiness and have some food, and share that with others in the community.”
Galloway Cheddar has provided 1.2 tonnes of cheese for use in the meals throughout the wider month long project, and has donated £19,500 to FareShare Scotland to supply participating organisations with materials including posters and t-shirts.
Judith Armstrong, farm supply manager at Galloway Cheddar said: “We’ve partnered with FareShare to deliver 10,000 meals across Scotland in the month of May. Summerhill are a fantastic partner, and they’re doing a week long cheese special for us, involving lots of different community groups of all ages.
“With COVID and with the cost of living crisis, we’ve really found a lot of people are feeling quite isolated. So the Gather Project, it’s not just to give everybody free meals, it’s to get them out of their houses, socialising in a friendly environment and hopefully make some new friends while they’re here too.”
The event follows on from a successful pilot last November, where Galloway Cheddar delivered Mac N' Cheese Monday at the community centre. Stepping up the initiative this year, Summerhill is just one of 20 organisations taking part in the project, with locations in the central belt also getting involved.