Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Kind residents put on free Christmas meals
KIND Dundonians are giving up their Christmas Day to ensure vulnerable people across the city don’t go hungry.
Graham’s Kitchen, St Mary’s Church and Lochee Community Larder are all open tomorrow offering free food.
St Mary’s Church and the Lochee Larder will be serving up free lunches around Lochee, while Graham’s Kitchen will be in their usual Marketgait spot.
Lochee Community Larder will open for the first time on Christmas Day thanks to a new partnership. The larder, on Whorterbank, is offering free soup and filled rolls on Christmas Day between 12pm and 2pm.
It will be open tonight, from 6.30pm until 7.30pm, and will be giving away free food to take away.
The larder will open for the first time on Christmas Day in partnership with MGT Training, run by Dundee-born director Michelle Menzies-Batt – the Tayside business provides training in hospitality, management and retail across Scotland.
Ms Menzies-Batt has decided to go back to her roots and help vulnerable Dundonians seeking community on Christmas Day.
She said: “We’ve got selection boxes and my clients have donated cakes too. It’s all getting made up into little bags so we can distribute more.
“We’re just trying to pull it all together so that people can reap the benefits – especially at this time of year.
“People can either sit in our wee cafe or outside or just come for a chat – it doesn’t matter, it’s about being part of that community.”
MGT Training partnered with Lochee Community Larder three months ago to provide retail and hospitality training for the locals.
Ms Menzies-Batt said: “We want to help people get back on their feet and that involves getting the right training for employment.
“A lot of people have gone through difficult circumstances and we want to help them.
“I suffered the loss of my teenage son 14 years ago, so I can empathise with a lot of the families who come to the larder who might be suffering loss or trauma.
“Being part of a community helps us to give support to others, and being supportive of others is helping them to feel good.
“There’s so much stress in the world and there’s never been a more important time to help others struggling with their mental and physical wellbeing.”
The larder usually opens every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10am and 2pm.
Michelle hopes to expand the training during the school holidays and provide basic cooking lessons for local parents and children.
St Mary’s Church is also running a free drop-in cafe from 12pm and 2pm on Christmas Day.
They are open every Saturday at the same time and will also offer free lunch on New Year’s Day.
The church is on Lochee High Street, with access available via Gray’s Lane.
Graham’s Kitchen will be supplying hot filled rolls, hot drinks, fruit and cake in Debenham’s Car Park, Marketgait, from 7.30pm until 9pm.
The soup kitchen, started by Graham Livingstone, runs in the city centre every Saturday night.
Those attending Lochee Community Larder on Christmas Day are encouraged to let the larder know beforehand by calling 01382 936191 between 10am and 2pm or by a message on Facebook.