More than 300 Dumfries families, and people of all ages took part in a Galloway Gathering initiative hosted at Summerhill Community Centre on Monday.
It was part of Galloway Cheddar’s Scotland-wide initiative to tackle food poverty and loneliness, following a pilot Mac’n’ Cheese event last year at the centre on Ballochmyle Terrace which encouraged people to gather together for support and a hot meal.
The centre is one of 20 organisations taking part in this month’s project in Central, South East, Glasgow and West of Scotland with Galloway Cheddar providing 1.2 tonnes of its red cheddar for use in the meals, as well as donating £19,500 to FareShare Scotland and supplying promotional packs to the centres.
It was a win, win for the region as Galloway is the No 1 Scottish Cheddar brand and works with different farms –which all adhere to the Red Tractor Assurance Dairy Scheme – located within 75 miles of its Stranraer factory, to produce the cheese which is made using 100 per cent Scottish milk.
At Summerhill this led to this week’s hugely-popular lunchtime community kitchen and evening meal with hot cheese-based food and fun activities, including dancing and games.
Summerhill Community Centre’s manager, Annemarie Coulter, said: “It is so wonderful to have this support from Galloway Cheddar once more. We were part of the initial pilot last year and the feedback we got from that was so positive so it is great to see them rolling it out across Scotland so even more families in need can benefit from events like this.
“We have more than 400 people of all ages come along to the centre each week and social and informal community venues such as ours are priceless places for meeting others, having food and a chat and being introduced to new opportunities.
“They help to combat loneliness and are essential in making ends meet for some people which is really important in today’s world where the cost of living and especially the cost of weekly food shopping is really impacting families.”
Martin Edgar, aged 38, from Dumfries, has been a centre user for two years with his 11-year-old son, Kyron, and said: “The centre is a big part of our daily life and we really enjoy coming to the community kitchen with lots of other local people as it feels as though we are like one big family, sitting down together for a meal.
“Food brings people together and having Galloway Cheddar support social gatherings like today, can be a real lifeline as it helps provide people with a central point to come together, have a hot meal and also take part in different activities.”
Another centre regular, 56-year-old Max McMinn, from Dumfries, said: “I first started coming to the centre 10 years ago when I heard about different community activities and social events in the local area. During this time, I have seen first-hand the effects low income and loneliness can have on people and the vital role the centre provides in helping those who are going through hard times.
“I am now one of the volunteers here and love seeing the positive impact the place has on everyone that attends each week, including myself. I really enjoy the social life aspect of coming here which always includes cooking, eating and talking with others – it fosters a real community spirit of togetherness.
“I was excited to be part of the Galloway Cheddar event at Summerhill as it gave us the opportunity to try out some delicious new cheese recipes and everyone really enjoyed being part of the day.”
Heloise Le Norcy-Trott, group category and marketing director at Lactalis UK and Ireland, said: “It is wonderful to hear how the Galloway Gathering project is bringing our company’s value of togetherness, to support those who need it most in Dumfries.
“Galloway Cheddar has been at the heart of Scottish family gatherings since it was founded in 1959 and partnering with FareShare allows us to really make a difference at grassroots level by encouraging people to gather together and make new friends around a delicious and comforting hot meal.”
“Providing food to make meals, as well as a generous donation to cover operational costs, will help us support more people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis in Scotland.”
