The Jeely Piece Club provides nutritious meals for local children and, following a recent funding boost, is launching a new meal planning initiative to include the whole family. To support this, the charity is expanding its catering team and searching for an experienced chef to join its ranks who will help to deliver the new food programme.

To support the valuable community work, the Jeely Piece Club recently received £30,000 of funding through the Glasgow Community Anchors’ Fund – a partnership between the HFD Charitable Foundation and Virgin Money Foundation.

Throughout the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, staff at the Jeely Piece Club have noticed many of the families they work with were struggling to provide meals for their children, as supermarket prices soar. By building a knowledgeable catering team that will continue to teach healthy cooking and meal preparation, this could support parents to make healthy, cost-effective meals at home.

Founded in 1975, the Jeely Piece Club is dedicated to increasing life chances and opportunities for both children and adults, keeping the community at the heart of its work. All children are welcome, no matter their circumstances. The Jeely Early Years Centre and the Jeely Playzone Centre provide spaces for kids to have fun whilst their parents can relax in the café.

Elaine McKenna, chief executive officer at the Jeely Piece Club, said: “The generous funding from the Glasgow Community Anchors’ programme will greatly support the Jeely Piece Club and our community. Our new meal plan and food health education initiative will be a key contributor in teaching the kids the importance of nutritious meals for their growth. We hope to do this in a way that is fun for them, so they enjoy the learning process and want to keep coming back.

“During Covid, we became the hub of a food distribution network and saw how important it was to help kids stay well fed during challenging times. This new programme will be able to help us do the same. Not only will we be able to feed the community well-balanced meals but we can also lend a helping hand to parents to plan inexpensive food options.”

Lauren McKenzie, HFD Charitable Foundation ambassador, added: “Through the Glasgow Community Anchors’ Fund, we can support good causes within Glasgow and the surrounding areas. Local communities are benefiting greatly from these organisations, particularly during challenging economic times.”

Nancy Doyle-Hall, executive director at the Virgin Money Foundation, added: “Ensuring children have healthy, nutritious meals is paramount during this cost of living crisis. It is wonderful to see the Jeely Piece Club being able to support their local community with this through the funding they have received from the Community Anchors’ Fund.”