Camelon Community Hub delivering hundreds of meals to vulnerable in lockdown

Camelon Community Hub (CCH) — previously Ochiltree Social Club — was launched by Iain Goodall and Gary Clark, both of whom have vast experience in the hospitality trade, just days before the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK.

Having built up a social media presence from scratch and created information posters, word soon spread of the vital work CCH was doing, which includes prescription and newspaper deliveries.

In the past seven weeks, its volunteers, who quickly realised the need to alter their operation, have distributed 140 school lunches each day to families in Camelon and Tamfourhill.

CCH team members also bought and prepared lunches themselves when school kitchens shut for the Easter holidays, during which the hub’s drivers donned fancy dress and delivered 800 Easter eggs to youngsters in the area.

During the first three weeks of lockdown, volunteers also sourced and handed out more than 300 emergency food parcels to those in need after linking up with businesses such as Behind The Wall and The Orchard Hotel in Falkirk — as well as supermarkets — and continue to offer this free and confidential service.

To date, CCH and those supporting its efforts have cooked through around 500kg of chicken and 200kg of pasta, among various other ingredients, and are now making around 1000 meals per week for struggling households. Those overseeing the operation are confident of producing 1000 meals a day, with the right structure in place.

A plan to widen its services is already in motion as Iain, a coach with Camelon Juniors, and Gary, the club’s head of youth, see enormous potential in the Ochiltree Terrace-based hub.

Iain said: “We are currently expanding our operation and have linked in with Women’s Aid groups.

“The plan is to collect in all the furniture and clothing that is normally donated to larger organisations and redistribute it to the people most in need.

“By supporting other organisations it allows us to increase our footprint within the community and help the most vulnerable.

“The inevitable plan is to place this site at the centre of this community and that is our long-term goal.

“Gary and I are both community-driven guys who see the unbelievable potential in our facility. We have created a huge amount of good will and trust within our community, and this will only grow with time.”

Gary said: “The support we get means the world to us.

“We now have Poundland and Poundstretcher donating towards us as well and we’ve had help from Asda, Tesco and Morrisons. There have been so many people who have helped.

“We’re giving out food parcels to help families on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

“We started off doing a breakfast service and we knew there was a need for this sort of thing and we built it up from nothing.

“There are so many vulnerable people needing support and that’s what we’re trying to do.

“We have delivery drivers from Camelon Juniors and a couple of ladies, Angela Lawrence and Lorraine Kane, who are fantastic in helping sort out the food parcels. They truly are angels because they’ve been a fantastic help to us.

“We would like to thank all the businesses for their support.”

CCH management also praised the contributions of Carolyn Donoghue and Craig Stirling of The Conservation Volunteers.

More information can be found online on the Camelon Community Hub Facebook page or by calling 07470 848564. Donations can also be made online to support the work of the hub.