The East-of-Scotland based homelessness charity Cyrenians, working in partnership with Hibernian and NHS Lothian, has provided over 600 free lunches at their weekly GameChanger events at Easter Road Stadium.
The charity run the lunches every Monday to provide a free nutritious meal whilst bringing people together to combat loneliness and create new friendships as part of the work of the GameChanger partnership.
GameChanger is a public social partnership founded by Hibernian Football Club, Hibernian Community Foundation and NHS Lothian working with others, notably Cyrenians, to improve health, lives and opportunities in the heart of local communities.
Cyrenians Community Cook Club Coordinator Amanda Somerville said, “The lunches are very inclusive and everyone is welcome to attend. We have families who bring along their young children, people with dementia and disabilities, and people bringing their elderly relatives. Everyone enjoys coming together to enjoy something lovely to eat and most importantly someone to eat with!
“The majority of the food comes from Cyrenians FareShare and the rest is purchased with the support of Tesco Leith and the other partners. The GameChanger lunches are one of 17 Community Cook Clubs that we have set up across Edinburgh and the Lothians.”
Amanda continued, “It has been fantastic to see the GameChanger lunches going from strength to strength with more people coming along each week. Now we just need to recruit more volunteers to help cook and welcome the growing number of attendees!”
Leeann Dempster, Chief Executive at Hibernian, said: “Since we established GameChanger, Cyrenians has been one of our most active and productive partners. We are delighted that the lunch clubs continue to develop, and would urge any supporters or others interested in helping to volunteer.”
If you would like to volunteer at any of the GameChanger events please contact Cyrenians on 0131 475 2354 / volunteering@cyrenians.scot.
To attend the GameChanger lunch at Hibernian Football Club simply pop in on Mondays. The lunches run from 12-2pm at and are free for all.
To find out more about the Cyrenians Community Cook Clubs please visit: https://cyrenians.scot/community-and-food/community-cook-clubs/
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
