Cafe 1668 in Inverness has seen demand for free meals spike over Christmas, as they struggle to keep running.
The cafe served 70 meals at their recent free Christmas dinner, up from 48 meals last year.
The cafe runs a regular free hot meal service, served at lunch time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Val Cooper, the cafe manager, said they average 30 meals a day during the week. Those numbers have steadily increased throughout the year. Even in the summer the numbers remained steady.
She said: “We rely heavily on donations and we’ve got organisations that are very good to us. We do buy ingredients in sometimes but we try and avoid that as much as we can.”
Cutting down on food waste is a central goal of the cafe, which means they get donations in from businesses in town.
She said: “We’re constantly having to find grant funding, to secure funding to keep us going.”
Cafe 1668 is a ‘safe haven’
Val Cooper said it’s a “funny demographic” of people that come into the cafe.
She said there are lots of people in homeless accommodation that come. Others are struggling to get by till their benefits come through.
There are also lots of young men in their 20s and 30s who may be struggling to make ends meet on part-time work.
She said: “There’s new faces almost every day. It is a nice thing that we’re here and we’re able to help, but it’s still not right. It’s good but the reasons for us having to do this need to be addressed. People need more support.”
Sitting together at a table are husband and wife Ewen and Lisa Campbell, and long-term friends Angela Williams and Vivian Dickson.
Vivian and Angela have known each other for several years. But the pair met Ewen and Lisa coming to the café.
The group agreed supports for people struggling with the cost of living in Inverness are patchy. Although, Ewen Campbell said between the Ness Bank Church (which runs a food bank) and Cafe 1668, there’s usually somewhere people can go during the week.
Vivian said: “This is a good help to my life, because if I didn’t have this to come to I’d be struggling to put something in my stomach.”
She said: “This world has changed the past few years, with the cost of living. We deserve a medal for keeping going.”
The food larder, stocked with various pantry fillers, is a key service.
Val Cooper said: “The shelves just get wiped out almost as soon as we put food out on it.”
Aside from the food, the group agreed having the café as a social hub was a big help to their mental health.
Both Angela and Vivian described the café as a “safe haven.”
Vivian said: “It helps with your confidence, coming here and having people to talk to… it keeps you going, keeps your health up.”
Behind the scenes at Cafe 1668
In the kitchens, staff and volunteer workers are putting the finishing touches to the day’s meal, a burger and potato wedges.
One of the cooks Freya Malone, 25, has worked in kitchens elsewhere. But she said the way Cafe 1668 tackles food waste is “her cup of tea.”
She said: “Most kitchens you work in you’re throwing out – be it food that’s coming back on plates or whatever… you’re just throwing away food.”
Both Freya Malone and Val Cooper said the café needs more paying customers to help support its operations.
Val Cooper said: “Do you want to go to a multimillion pound coffee chain and buy your take away coffee or sit in there and have your cappuccino?
“Or do you want to come somewhere that’s in your community, supporting your community and supporting people that are struggling in your community?”
Conversation