Schoolchildren in Brora are relying on holiday meal kits as the rising cost of living hits families across the Highlands.
About 50% of school-age children have used breakfast packs and lunch starter kits since schools broke up at the end of June.
Brora Development Trust has partnered with The Young Carers East Sutherland (Tykes) and Engaging with Activity to provide the packs, which can be collected from the village hub without referral.
Sarah Morrison, development officer at the trust, said she has noticed the impact the cost of living crisis has had on families in the village, which has a population of about 1,200.
‘Challenging’ summer holidays
“Long summer holidays are always challenging when it comes to feeding your kids,” she said.
“They put a lot of strain on people financially but it has been compounded this year with the cost of living crisis and the huge increase in prices of everything.”
She added that the packs will be provided again in the October holidays but that the trust will have to apply for more funding to support families beyond then.
Nearly 100 children currently attend Brora Primary School with older pupils attending Golspie High School, which has 240 students.
As well as the meal kits, families in Brora can lean on the local food share shed to help them through times when money is stretched thin.
There are over 20 similar sheds across Sutherland alone, but all the groups running them are struggling with increasing costs and decreasing food surplus.
Ms Morrison said: “All these little food share sheds are working really hard to support their communities and struggling to get stock to fill them.
“Imagine if you’re a food share shed up along the north coast, you’re miles from your nearest source of food so that’s a huge pressure to put on volunteers.”
‘The job is finding the food to keep it going’
The Brora food share shed is open from 8am to 8pm every day and can be used by anyone who needs it. Nothing goes to waste, with any food that isn’t picked up going to a local couple’s goats.
Locals can also find books, DVDs, seeds and plants there, thanks to a team of volunteers coordinated by Engaging with Activity.
Kath Hunter is a co-founder of the group, which runs the village hub in Brora alongside the food share shed. She said the shed is always busy and that she doesn’t expect that to change.
“The number of people that come to the shed has kept growing,” she said.
“There is a constant flow of people there from 8am, some mornings there’s a queue waiting for it to be unlocked then they’re there until 8pm. We foresee that happening more and more, the job is finding the food to keep it going.”
‘Disposable income is becoming less and less’
Mrs Hunter said she has been surprised in recent months by the range of people using the shed and they try to dispel any guilt people might feel when doing so.
She said: “I think what’s noticeable is there are people using it now who are in jobs. They have just got to the end of the month and they’ve got no resources left over, their disposable income is becoming less and less.”
There are 12 volunteers involved in keeping the food share shed in Brora stocked and clean.
Without them, Mrs Hunter said it wouldn’t be possible to have such an important crutch in the community: “We are so grateful to the volunteers who run the shed.
“There’s a lot of work involved in running it and keeping it going but they all do it for free, some of them travel back and forth and they don’t ask for petrol money or anything.”
Big Food Appeal
The Press and Journal and Evening Express has been working to raise awareness of the vital work carried out by foodbanks, food share sheds and community larders.
As the cost of living crisis continues, our Big Food Appeal is helping those in need find out where they can get support across the north and north-east.
We want to reduce the stigma around food poverty, help dispel myths around foodbanks and highlight the work of volunteers across the region.
For more information, or to get involved with The Big Food Appeal, click here.
Conversation