Quickly responding to the Covid-19 pandemic before lockdown in March, Neil Hay and his team at Cyrenians closed down non-essential services and prioritised their lifeline provisions including street outreach and food delivery.
As the head of enterprise for the homelessness charity, swift action was vital to ensure the safety of their vulnerable service users, the majority of whom were moved to temporary hotel accommodation during the outbreak.
Mr Hay said: "For those who were sleeping rough or were without a home, it was understood that they were fundamentally not safe. We soon worked out which services were undeliverable at the time or not critical. Our lifeline services remained, including food provision and keeping our outreach workers on the streets."
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Already working with community groups across central and southern Scotland as a FareShare franchise, distributing good quality surplus food from the hospitality and retail industries, Cyrenians were able to mobilise their staff and volunteers to cook and deliver healthy meals to people experiencing isolation, poverty or homelessness.
The Edinburgh depot, with its five full time staff and more than 30 volunteers, soon became the central hub that was distributing 80 tonnes of food - or around 190,000 meals - every week during lockdown.
Mr Hay said: "No one faltered or stumbled and we moved into food production for people that really needed it."
Working closely with RBS at their headquarters at Gogarburn, along with Social Bite and the Trussel Trust, meant that the Cyrenians could maximise their output and benefit from the relationships cultivated by the other organisations, streamlining their own operation and offering other goods to individuals and families in need including books and activity packs donated by the Scottish Book Trust.
To continue providing food and support to people affected by homelessness, as well as others living in isolation, Cyrenians are calling for chefs who may be furloughed or out of work to come and assist with their food production operation, as well as any companies who can provide vital sources of protein to their meals.
Mr Hay said: "We know the difference nutrition make on mental and physical health and a core element of that is protein. Without it, deficiencies can occur and with the negative mental cycle of lockdown nobody needs any other reason for low mood, fatigue and malaise."
The introduction of a new Virtual Community Kitchen will bring back the charity's Community Cook Clubs, although Mr Hay acknowledges that many will miss the "togetherness and social element" that defined the clubs before the crisis.
But it has been the determination, enthusiasm and hard work of benefactors, staff and volunteers - many of whom has previously accessed Cyrenians services - that has kept everything afloat.
Mr Hay said: "The thanks goes way deeper and wider even than just the people in our organisation. There is an entire network that we are simply the catalyst in – without the local community groups to give the food to then everything grinds to a halt as we cannot reach every end recipient of the food - food prepared and delivered with compassion, care and love. I pray that a gain from the pandemic is that communities are more in touch with each other and that solidarity and support prevail."
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Malcolm Buchanan, chair, Scotland Board, Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “Transforming the Royal Bank Gogarburn Conference Centre into a temporary foodbank to help support the great work that the Cyrenians, FareShare, The Trussell Trust and Social Bite do has shown the positive impact that can be made when people and groups work together.
“Businesses, customers and colleagues from across Scotland have become involved, offering their time, skills and resource to help during one of the most challenging times in history. KPMG, Deloitte, Scottish Business in the Community, Queen Margaret University and The Scottish Book Trust have joined great brands such as McVitie’s and United Wholesale to help support the most vulnerable people in our communities.
“The public have even been taking the time to come to Gogarburn and personally drop goods off that they have sourced or collected. As Neil has explained, such generosity can have a strong and significant legacy.”
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