LDRSWest Lothian’s Food Network has achieved the “milestone” of full charitable status four years after its set up on the cusp of the Covid pandemic.
The group of food charities helped more than 73,000 people last year and another 22,000 between April and June.
The Network has also helped cement social ties and sustain communities in the cost of living crisis.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to two groups which provide food and other practical help, in Knightsridge, northern Livingston and in the village of Addiewell, near West Calder.
In Knightridge, Livingston, co-ordinator Julie Henderson said: “The people make it. This has brought the community together.”
LDRSMore working people are in poverty. Julie has customers who work in supermarkets do their shopping at the Vennie Outlet because it’s more affordable.
The Vennie Food Outlet began operating long before the Covid outbreak and is one of the founding groups of the Network . The Vennie relies on donations; it was one of the first groups in the area to receive regular donations from the Cyrenians. They also have donations handed in.
Julie explained: “We have a pensioner who comes in each week with two bags of shopping for us. People are not less needy.”
Julie said: “We are finding people are really down on their luck. They’ve got absolutely nothing. If somebody’s got nothing, they get food, nobody ever goes away empty handed. We say ‘Once you are one feet come back get your food from here and you’ll save yourself a fortune.’ It helps them get on their feet.”
Julie also can also refer customers to the School Bank which provides uniforms and to the council’s Advice shops
Local councillor Andrew Miller regularly volunteers. He said: “People come here and they are comfortable. They know Julie, they know me. They know what the score is. They are comfortable and there are no barriers to engaging. It is really positive in the middle of the community.”
Helen, a regular at the Vennie, said shopping there had helped her maintain her independence. She said she been invited to use a food bank once and her experience when she visited had made her want to “curl up and hide.”
She told the LDRS: “ Here they are friendly and welcoming. It’s just like a shop.”
“I have been coming since before the pandemic. It’s absolutely fantastic. You don’t feel like you’re going to a food bank. I’ve been to one, and never again.
“To me it was insulting. You don’t feel like that here. You feel like you’re going shopping. It’s a social thing for me as well and I come along and see the staff and different people.
“It’s second to none. They are friendly and welcoming. You can pay your way and still feel independent.”
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