Salvation Army turns Falkirk drop-in cafe into takeaway to give 'hope beyond coronavirus'

Volunteers at the charity’s worship and community centre in Woodside Court are serving up free hot meals to those who may otherwise be left to go without, while also following the government’s COVID-19 lockdown rules.

Running between 12.30pm and 2.30pm from Monday to Friday, meals are prepared on-site by one chef and given to individual clients one at a time to minimise risk.

The success of the long-running drop-in cafe has meant, according to Salvation Army envoys, the new takeaway service has been able to have just as positive an impact on those who’ve come to rely on the original version.

Each day, volunteers have been handing over dozens of food bundles containing information leaflets promoting their “hope beyond coronavirus” message.

Envoy William McMurray (61), from Falkirk, said: “When this virus came about we realised we needed a way of still feeding our clients but also keeping our staff and them safe.

“We decided the best route to go down was a takeaway service where we try to encourage the clients to come up individually and stay back from others.

“The staff prepare a takeaway lunch and hand it through the door so there’s minimal contact and it allows us to ensure our clients are safe.

“At the moment we’re limiting volunteers and we’ve tried to keep staff at a minimum.

“It has been really good. We hand out between 35 and 45 meals a day.

“The clients are all very positive and understand why we have done what we have done.

“They’ve been very good at not coming all at once so it minimises the people at the door at any one time.

“They’re getting a good hot meal provided, although they’re not getting the comfort of sitting down but they’ve all realised we can’t do that at this moment in time.

“A lot of people will say, ‘You could drop it off’, but this is a way to get them out and exercise. A lot of our clients need that interaction.”

William and wife Denise (62), of Grangemouth, were appointed as Falkirk Salvation Army envoys at the beginning of March, just days before the country was placed into lockdown.

Having started out with the Salvation Army in Grangemouth almost 30 years ago, the McMurrays have also been involved with its churches in St Andrews, Glenrothes and Stirling.

William, who was awarded an MBE for his community work in Stirling, has spent the first few weeks of life back in his hometown trying to adjust to a new way of operating.

He said: “There has been a lot of talking to people on the phone and trying to build up relationships with core people.

“It’s not work we’re unfamiliar with, it’s very much work we’re comfortable doing. It’s just been about finding other ways to do it.

“It’s a passion for the work that sees us through it.”

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