COLDER days have led to an increase in operating hours at a community kitchen in Tranent, as the charity works to tackle social isolation and food insecurity.

Fa’side Community Kitchen hosts a lunch every Tuesday and Thursday at East Lothian Co-operative Bowling Club on Blawearie Road.

The charity’s mission is to “ensure vulnerable people in our community have access to a hot meal twice a week”, with a delivery service also available.

Last year, 65 roast dinners were cooked and delivered on Christmas Day.

The community kitchen, which was set up in 2020, is now extending its opening hours to provide a warm and welcoming space as the days get colder.

From this week, hot drinks and a snack will be on offer from 10.30am.

Lunch will then be served between noon and 1.30pm.

The meals are carefully prepared by a dedicated team in the kitchen, responding to customers' suggestions and requests. 

The twice-weekly sessions are open for anyone to join to enjoy the comforting food, good company and a warm space to spend the afternoon.

The meals are home-cooked by the team of volunteers (Image: Facebook)

In addition to the meals, a variety of activities are available for customers, including board games, puzzles and dominoes.

Upcoming ideas include inviting an artist to host a caricature drawing session and offering gentle seated exercise classes.

Fiona O'Donnell, development worker at the community kitchen, said: "Our customers are really enjoying the activities we have on offer before and after lunch, and liked the idea of having more opportunities to do that.

"They have the opportunity to socialise, to be mentally and physically active, which, given most of our customers are older people, is really good for them.

"If people have other ideas about the things they want to do then we'll respond to that, because everything we do is informed by what our customers want. They're the most important people in all of this."

More than half of customers at the lunch live alone, so the community kitchen gives them the chance to socialise with friends.

Fiona added: "They form really strong relationships with each other. People have formed really strong friendships.

"People who maybe came at first and sat at the other side of the room which was quieter, then someone would go and talk to them, then they'd go and sit with them, and now they're regularly in touch.

"People go off to do their shopping together afterwards or go to social events in the community together. It's a really natural way that people form friendships.

"The room is just filled with laughter and talk. Those are the things that give meaning to our lives, engaging with other people.

"Maybe that's the only social contact that people have and many of them say that it's the highlight of their week when they go along, because it's just a really warm and welcoming place."

In its 2023-24 report, the charity shared the work it took to run the kitchen, with more than 1,400 volunteer hours put in over the 12 months.

More than 1,500 meals were served, with between 17 and 33 customers going along each session.

A group of customers also recently went on a trip to North Berwick, enjoying fish and chips at a local café.