Food Hub handing over duties to Trust
The Cambuslang Food Hub, which put meals on the table for 750 local families during four months of lockdown, has now been wound down.
From this week, The Trussell Trust will be taking over food bank provision from the hub, which was established as part of the CamGlen Covid response network, coordinated by the Healthy n Happy Community Development Trust.
Run by Cambuslang community council, a team of volunteers worked five days a week to provide bags of food and other essentials to help struggling families.
The Cambuslang Food Hub was based in St Bride’s RC Church parish hall and staffed by members of the community council and other volunteers.
Clare Williamson, Cambuslang community council member, said: “We had a fantastic team of 26 volunteers, working morning and afternoon shifts to manage the food supplies, take orders and pack bags at the hub.
“We also had a big team of drivers making home deliveries and doing the supermarket collections.
“We were overwhelmed by the support we received from volunteers who put in hundreds of hours of work, especially by young people who gave up part of their summer to help.
“This was a real community effort, with residents and businesses working together.
“We are extremely grateful for more than 200 donations received from local people.
“Many were given on a regular basis and several of them were provided by groups of families and neighbourhoods.
“Also, the Rotary Club very generously donated £4000 to both the Cambuslang and Rutherglen Food Hubs.”
The hub received regular donations from Co-op, Morrisons and Tesco as well as support from Asda and Lidl.
South Lanarkshire Council helped it get up and running with ‘starter bags’ and provided the hub with weekly supplies of goods that were falling short, as well as the sanitary packs when requested.
Smaller businesses also pitched in, with The Kracken Chippy donating sacks of potatoes.
John Bachtler, chairperson of Cambuslang community council, said: “We were very pleased to play a part in the wider CamGlen Covid response.
“Our members, Clare Williamson and Mark Lauterburg, did a fantastic job organising the set up and running of the hub, managing the team and ensuring that everything worked smoothly.
“We are particularly grateful to St Bride’s RC Church for letting us share their parish hall, working alongside their own parish food support operation.
“Father Paul Morton and Maureen Clayton couldn’t have been more welcoming and helpful.”
Brendan Rooney, Healthy n Happy executive director, also expressed his thanks for all the help over the months.
He added: “As the Camglen Covid food provision starts to transition back to Cambuslang and Rutherglen Foodbank, we are so grateful to St Bride’s Church, Cambuslang community council and to all of the volunteers involved.
“They have been just magic and have helped so many other local residents in need during the Covid pandemic.
“The Camglen Covid food provision still continues to operate from St Columbkille’s Church hall and Particp8 hub and will continue until mid-September.”