Fife woman honoured for helping locals experiencing food poverty

Lorraine Mullen, who was instrumental in setting up the Lochgelly Lunches Project which provides meals for people suffering food poverty, was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM).

As a Fife Council community education worker, she supported local volunteers to set up Lo’gelly Lunches about 18 months ago.

The project is aimed at tackling issues around social isolation.

When lockdown was announced on March 23 she said they could no longer meet in the social lunch setting so to help mitigate issues that local people were experiencing due to the pandemic, she helped volunteers to allow locals to gain access to food by setting up the community larder.

You might also be interested in:

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/queens-birthday-honours-2020-these-are-fifers-included-2998724

Lorraine, who lives in Pitteuchar, said she was shocked when she found out she was receiving the BEM.

She said: "I was shocked when I first found out and initially I thought it was a joke!

"But I feel very humble for people to have thought of me in this way. This honour is really for everyone who has been involved in this initiative, for all the volunteers who have played their part - not just me.

"People will be so thrilled that Lo'gelly Lunches has received this recognition and it isn't just for the volunteers but for people who use this service as well. It has been a very difficult time for many families."

Lorraine said they have been feeding 200 people every week and since the initiative was launched they have helped to feed four and a half thousand people in the local area with support from stores including Asda, Morrisons, the Co-op and Nisa.

The stores have provided food to enable the volunteers to make up food parcels for people from the community larder which operates from Lochgelly Town Hall.

Lorraine, who has worked in Lochgelly for three years, added: " I want to thank the people of Lochgelly who nominated me. I know local people are very thankful for the service and this award is for all these people who are working hard every week to keep providing meals for people who need it."

Thank you for reading this story on our website. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, we are asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspapers - the Fife Free Press, Fife Herald, St Andrews Citizen and East Fife Mail.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the highest standards in the world. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper. Thank you.