Health and Social Care

Update on Meal Makers community project

October 13, 2014 by Linda White No Comments | Category Communities

We recently blogged about Meal Makers, a Dundee-based pilot project that was launched on August 6, 2014. The initiative connects volunteers of any age who have a passion for cooking and want to be active in their communities (Cooks), with older neighbours (Diners) who would appreciate a home cooked meal.

Meal Makers Project Manager Emma Black shares an update on their progress so far:

September was only our second month as a live project and as you can imagine, it was very busy, enjoyable and rewarding. It was a month in which we signed up 23 Cooks, attended lots of meeting and events, and had our very first meal share!

The lucky diner received a lovely three course meal consisting of tomato salad, mince and tatties, and apple crumble. Both parties thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will continue with meal sharing.

Since starting Meal Makers, we’ve met with a whole array of different individuals and organisations, including other charity organisations, health and social care professionals, and community figureheads. They have provided us with invaluable support to raise awareness about this worthwhile project to ensure that everyone who lives in Dundee will know and learn all about Meal Makers and what we’re trying to achieve.

We have also attended public events to speak directly to the very people we would like to get involved with Meal Makers. Last month, we shared a stall with our colleagues from the Food Train at the very popular Dundee Food and Flower Festival to raise awareness of the project amongst the ‘foodies’ of Dundee. At the same time we took the opportunity to take a look at the vegetables on display, some of which were so big they could feed a family for weeks!

Following that, we also held a stall at the University of Abertay Volunteers’ Fayre where we were delighted to meet plenty of food enthusiasts within the student community.

We are so excited to be at a stage in the project where we have begun to match up our cooks and diners and started sharing meals. Cooks are required to undertake Protecting Vulnerable Group (PVG) clearance and with approved PVG applications starting to arrive in the office on a near-daily basis, we are looking forward to organising many more meal shares in the coming months!

If you have any questions on how to become a Meal Makers Cook or Diner, or would like more information about the project, please email us at hello@mealmakers.org.uk or call us on 0800 783 7770.

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