Two big-hearted organisations have joined forces to serve up hearty winter meals for Inverclyde families.
Bluebird Family Centre is now operating a soup kitchen every Friday to help stave off hunger - and to encourage parents to get cooking at home.
Hot soup will be dished out from a base that was created by a team from Inverclyde Shed.
Bluebird family support worker Gail McMenemy came up with the idea to re-engage with parents and families after months of lockdown.
Gail said:
"We're not getting the face-to-face contact with families and we really miss that.
"This will help us to build up our relationships with parents again after not seeing them properly for months during the lockdown.
"A lot of new pupils started this year so this will help us get to know the new families.
"It's something to keep the parents going during the winter months and will give them something to look forward to on a Friday."
Gail will be out in the shed from 2.30pm every week serving up the soup free of charge. She will also be giving out recipe packs to parents and locals. The project has been made possible thanks to £500 funding from Inverclyde Community Fund alongside help from Inverclyde Community Food Network and the health improvement team at Inverclyde Council.
Gail hopes the soup-er community effort will also get families talking to each other in a socially distanced way. She added:
"The packs of ingredients will give parents all they need to make the soups at home.
"Being able to cook up a hearty dish for the family will increase their confidence and self-esteem while making sure everyone has something to eat.
"There's a fantastic community atmosphere in this area.
"This will help to bring people together and will give families the chance to make connections."
Inverclyde Shed chairman Bruce Newlands and shed member Laughlan Smith built the structure from a flat-pack design chosen by Gail.
Bruce says he's very proud to have been involved in creating something that will serve the community. He said:
"It was great fun. It was all Gail's idea and she approached us for help to get it ready.
"This is a great wee area. It feels like it's owned by the community. I'm sure the soup shed will be a great success."
This article and image appeared in the Greenock Telegraph.