Kirkcaldy Foodbank: Scouts group earn badges with Foodbank donation

The 115th Fife Scout Group has supported Kirkcaldy Foodbank throughout the year by hosting a donations box in the foyer of its Scout Hall in Chapel Village and ended this term with a festive family fundraiser, with craft activities, mini stalls, baking and teas/coffee to support the Foodbank - with £140 raised.

Children from the Beaver Scouts group have been working towards their community impact badge by bringing along items to fill up the donations box.

Joyce Leggate from Kirkcaldy Foodbank was on hand to collect the items on behalf of the charity - and to tell the group about how the donations would be used.

Lorraine Reilly, Beaver Scout leader, said the food drive was an opportunity for the children to take an active role in how they give back to the community.

She said: “At the start of term, we chatted with the youngsters, and Kirkcaldy Foodbank was one of the things that they came up with to support.

“We need to chat about it, we need to plan ‘how are we going to raise the money?’. We don’t have them just bringing in their tins every week”.

“We do it over a period of time because it also goes towards their community impact badge. They’ve been collecting food for quite a lot of weeks before we had the family week to finish it off.

The Foodbank is also at the heart of another of the group's badges, with lessons in budgeting coming through their work towards their Money Skills Badge.

She said: “We ask them to do chores at home but get paid for it, small amounts such as 20 pence, and then we take them to a supermarket and let them shop.

“That’s really interesting for them because they automatically go to the more expensive items, but we ask them ‘if you only have £2 what are you going to get?’ So that fits in with the Money Skills Badge when we shop for the Foodbank”.

The group is hoping to continue its work in the community by introducing a younger age group, with children aged four to six being included in a Squirrels group.