Residents of a village for people with additional support needs have been baking sweet treats for Aberdeen’s vulnerable and homeless as part of efforts to reach out and help the wider community.
Newton Dee, the Camphill community near Bieldside, has been shut to the public since the start of the pandemic in order to protect the villagers, as the virus poses a particularly high risk to many of them.
But in the absence of Aberdonians from outside Newton Dee visiting the village and spending time at its shop and café, residents have been left with fewer things to do in their day-to-day lives.
And so Ulrike Mall, a co-worker at the village, came up with the idea of using the community’s confectionary-making facilities and the assistance of its eager villagers to offer a helping hand to those in need.
After a fundraiser for ingredients gathered £2,000, Ms Mall and everyone taking part in the project at Newton Dee have started to donate around 150 tray bakes to The Care Hub Aberdeen each week.
The Care Hub has been handing out the tasty treats to the homeless and vulnerable people it supports.
With plenty of cash left for ingredients, Ms Mall says the Newton Dee team aims to continue the weekly donation for as long as they can.
And if people keep donating, they’ll be able to help both the homeless and vulnerable, and provide meaningful work to the villagers, for a long time to come.
She said: “The confectionary usually bakes for the café and the store where the public come to eat and shop, but they’ve been closed to the public since March, so they just don’t have that much to do.
“They’ve been helping in the garden and baking for us and so on, but I thought we really must find a way to put their time and good will to good use beyond Newton Dee.
“Even if we can’t see people from outside Newton Dee, we still wanted to be helpful.
“One of the most important things in Camphill is food, as cooking, baking and eating together is such a big part of life.
“What we came up with was a plan for me to get the funds for the ingredients and, after we baked the confectionery, friends would pick up the goods and deliver it to The Care Hub.
“I’ve been amazed at how easy it’s all been.
“We’ve asked people to donate online, and we put around flyers in the village, and in total we’ve raised around £2,000 – far more than our £1,000 target – so we will be baking for a very long time, which is great.
“Newton Dee and Camphill is all about meaningful work.
“Some of the workshops have been very easy to keep going, like the bakery and the garden and farm, but the café, shop and especially the confectionary have really felt the loss of not having customers come by.
“They’re just so happy to do something useful.”