Greener Kirkcaldy: Charity's 2022 work shows "scale of the need out there"

The charity has run a number of successful events in the last 12 months as it looks to step up its post-Covid offering, including the return of its community meal offering.

The meal, which now seats around 50 people, returned in March 2022 and has now expanded to two sittings. The three-course meal is pay-what-you-want and offers people the opportunity for company and quality food cooked in the charity’s East Fergus Place kitchen.

The community-led charity has also had a bumper year when it comes to volunteering - 90 people gave nearly 4000 hours of their time, including on a climate awareness raising “parklet” among other projects.

Greener Kirkcaldy has also played its part in helping Fifers combat the cost of living crisis. The charity said it has been able to save households more than £1.5m through its Handy Service, debt clearance and fuel top ups.

Christine May is chair of the volunteer board. Whilst keen to praise the work of the charity, she spoke of her frustration at the need for the organisation's role.

She said: “Some of those figures show you the scale of the need out there, and something that has always really, really bothered me is we can get that for people, but they’re entitled to it. The system shouldn’t be like that.

“They should get it as an automatic right. It is an absolute disgrace”.

“If I, as an advocate, can gain something, why can’t they have it in the first place? Why does it take someone to articulate someone else’s obvious need?”

Lauren Brook, development manager at Greener Kirkcaldy, added: “Unfortunately it’s a really crucial part of our work, but it really shouldn’t be”.

2023 looks like it will present new challenges and opportunities for the charity.

It has been announced that Suzy Goodsir will step down after 11 years of involvement with the charity.

The charity hopes that a newly appointed chief executive will be in place by the summer. Both Christine and Lauren were keen to pay tribute to the outgoing chief as they highlighted the opportunities a change of leadership will bring.

Christine said: “It’s going to be a huge change because Suzy has been Greener Kirkcaldy, and she is a wonderful leader”.

“Any new leader will want to put their stamp on Greener Kirkcaldy, so we’re very much looking forward to that”.

Additionally, Christine pointed out that employability "is a real issue" in the Kingdom and one area Greener Kirkcaldy will be on hand to offer guidance and support.

Christine said: “We have people who desperately want to work. They want to work more hours.

“There are businesses that want to be able to grow but for all of that people need money.”

However, the focus for the charity will remain on encouraging and supporting residents of the Lang Toun in the fight against the climate crisis.

Christine said: “People want support to make the changes they know are needed and our response back to them is, ‘you can make a difference and we can help you do it and if we can’t, we know someone who can’”.