Lidl Leven

The East Wemyss C.A.F.E. (Community Access For Everyone) is a free, welcoming space that brings our community together for friendship and support. Run totally by volunteers from our community, we offer a wholesome lunch and hot and cold drinks at no cost, with rolls and salad available all year. What began as a council-funded "Warm Space" has now been a vital service for almost four years. We've become experts at preventing waste. What we can buy cheap, we offer to everyone so they can get an extra meal. We also make sure to reach those who can't come to us with an outreach service. This simple drop-off ensures they get a meal and some companionship, which can be their only contact all day. Beyond our weekly meetings, we've become a central point for other community groups like Age Scotland and Cozy Kingdom, who provide valuable advice on benefits and grants. We've also started offering music afternoons and have a fundraising group working to bring Christmas lights to the village. We're even planning day trips, especially to help those who live alone. Our long-term dream is to secure our own premises so we can open seven days a week, providing a permanent place for our community to find help, support, and companionship.

The main activity of our project is the distribution of food to people in need. This activity takes place on a Monday and Friday afternoon. To do this we partner with other agencies who will refer people to the foodbank. We run two community cafes, one on Tuesday mornings offering free breakfasts (bacon rolls, cereals, fresh fruit, tea and coffee) and one on Thursday afternoons offering free lunch (soup, filled rolls, pudding and tea/coffee) to those in our community who are in need of our help. The surplus food helps people with food which is especially helpful during the cost of living crisis. We also work with the local primary schools offering a 2 hour course on numeracy, budgeting and citizenship. All our services are free of charge.

The People's Pantry the Centre Leven is a not for profit organisation. We have a membership of 130 people and 15 volunteers. We run a Friday pantry where members receive high quality food that may have otherwise been destined for landfill. We are also looking after our environment by reducing single use plastics through operating a refill station where members bring in reusable containers which are refilled with pasta, rice, tea, coffee, sugar and potatoes. We are looking for support from local businesses by means of either cash donations or surplus food donations. For more information telephone 01334 659348.