An East Belfast youth club is launching a new family food club in order to bring the community together and give them a boost during the cost of living crisis.
Ledley Hall Youth and Boxing Club already operates a breakfast club for its members before school and offers freshly cooked hot food afterwards in an effort to help support their development through nutritious meals.
Now after receiving a funding boost from the National Lottery Community Fund for its Food for All scheme, it is expanding its programme so that members and their families will be able to come together on a Thursday and have a nice meal together.
Read more: The East Belfast 'Kindness Crew' helping their local community
Michelle Fullerton, lead youth worker at Ledley Hall, said that the schemes are more important now than they have ever been due to the cost of living crisis and "devastating cuts" that have been made to youth services and education.
She said: "Thanks to this funding from the National Lottery Community Fund we are able to expand our Food for All scheme and put on an additional dinner club for families every Thursday that we hope will bring the community together and give them a boost.
"This is on top of the dinner club that we already provide here at the youth club and the breakfast club that is run entirely by volunteers every morning.
"Given the impact of recent budget cuts to youth services and education, which will see the extended schools programme stopped, schools will not be able to offer the breakfast clubs and after school schemes that they have been providing, putting ours under even more pressure and making them even more important to our members and community to ensure that our young people are having a healthy and hot meal everyday.
"We have seen first hand the impact that the cost of living crisis has had on our communities, where we have people lining up some days to get food and supplies from our Kindness Hut because things are getting so tough for them.
"We know the positive effects that schemes like this have on young people and their families and we are grateful for the support from the National Lottery Community Fund for their £8,770 grant which has helped us provide are Food for All scheme along with allowing us to make much needed improvements to our kitchen."
10-year-old Aaliyah who has been attending the breakfast and dinner clubs said that they were something that all the members enjoy.
She said: "Everytime we come to Ledley Hall we know that we are going to have fun and get something nice to eat, that is always brilliantly cooked by Michelle."
East Belfast UUP MLA Andy Allen, said that Ledley Hall is much more than just a youth club, but a community hub for people of all ages that provides important support to the area.
He said: "I am delighted to see the Ledley Hall benefit from vital funding through the National Lottery Community Fund, which will enable them to further extend their much-needed support to the local community. As the cost of living crisis continues to squeeze household budgets, initiatives such as this are of vital importance, especially against the backdrop of budget cuts that have seen the extended schools programme, amongst others, cut or removed. Yet again, this is an example of third-sector organisations filling the void to support local communities.
"The Ledley Hall is much more than a youth club, it is a community hub, which supports so many families in need. Their ‘Food for All’ project, made possible by their team of dedicated volunteers, will help to reduce isolation and provide access to a hot meal for families impacted by rising costs."
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