Deprived area of Fife misses out on hot meals at council lunch clubs

Café Inc is running at venues across Fife throughout the summer holidays, and is open to all children, young people, parents and families.

Yet while Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes areas all have at least one venue offering a hot food option, all that’s on offer in Levenmouth is packed lunches to take away.

Councillor Ken Caldwell said: “There is no hot food provision at all in Levenmouth, so families cannot "sit down and eat their meal, together with friends, as a community", as Councillor Judy Hamilton has previously stated. The families in the communities of Levenmouth will continue to miss out on this invitation.

“When I was Levenmouth Area Convener, I ensured that there was at least one location in Levenmouth, during the summer holidays, where we would provide a hot meal.

“However, this time round, there is no such provision. Even the locations of the venues were spread apart. Councillor O'Brien and I managed to get an additional venue, at MCCI in Methilhill, otherwise these families would have needed to go to Methil or Buckhaven Community Centres.”

Cllr Caldwell pointed out that Levenmouth – and the Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Ward in particular – has some of the highest areas of deprivation in Scotland, including the highest in Fife at Buckhaven South, and said the Café Inc provision was not being rolled out equitably.

He added: “Kirkcaldy Area for example, Cllr Hamilton's area and the Labour leader's area, five of the seven locations are at schools, providing hot meals; Cowdenbeath area, the Labour deputy leader’s area, has 100 per cent of the venues operating from schools, all providing hot meals.

“These provisions at schools, I understand, are provided by Fife Council catering services, through education services.

“Yet they can find no such provision at all in Levenmouth, which I find very hard to believe.

“Instead, this provision is provided for by our community learning and development team, who have stepped in and are doing a tremendous job, as they have done in the past, to provide ‘grab and go bags’.

“However, this impacts on other provision that they would like to provide in Levenmouth, and should be providing to our families in Levenmouth.”

Paul Vaughan, Head of Communities and Neighbourhood services, said: “Café Inc is up and running once again across Fife delivering free food for families during the summer holidays.

"We’re currently providing around 650 lunches each week in the Levenmouth area and over 13,500 meals across Fife through Café Inc.

“We're working hard to bring hot food options to the menu as was the case before the pandemic. However the service provided in each area is based on the staff and facilities available and providing hot food is something we’re looking to do for future Café Incs in the Levenmouth area.”