Deeside ‘Warm Hubs’ offering free winter meals as cost of living crisis bites

Free soup, a bread roll and a cuppa plus a meal to take home are to be made available for people to enjoy at two new warm hubs starting up in Deeside this week.

The hubs are being run by the Can Cook, Well-Fed social enterprise in partnership with the Diocese of St Asaph as a way to support people through the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Warming soup, a bread roll and a brew, plus a freshly-prepared meal to either enjoy in the hub or take away, are on the menu every week at both St Marks Parish Centre in Connah’s Quay from Thursday and at St Ethelwold’s Church Hall in Shotton from Friday.

The hubs will be open from 11am until 2pm on Thursday on Church Street in Connah’s Quay and from 4.30pm to 6.30pm every Friday at the venue on Chester Road East in Shotton.

It’s free of charge and all are welcome at the two venues, which will run right through the winter until March. The warm hubs and the free meals have been made possible thanks to a partnership between Can Cook, Well-Fed and the Diocese of St Asaph.

Can Cook is based on Rowley’s Business Park in Shotton and the social enterprise founded by Robbie Davison is proud of its mission of ensuring people can have fresh food on their tables, even when times are tough.

Faith Lightfoot, Can Cook’s social programmes manager, said they were keen to give people healthy and fresh food to give them the strength to cope with their day to day challenges of living through such tough times.

She said they also hoped it would prove a chance for people to get out of their homes to meet others, tackling social exclusion too.

She said: “The cost of living has gone through the roof for everybody. With these two warm hubs in Connah’s Quay and Shotton there’s a place for people to come during the colder winter months because that’s when it hits hardest.

“I think like every social enterprise in this sector we have definitely noticed a steep rise in people using our services. Poverty has been entrenched for a number of years and we have been providing these services to help tackle it but it’s stretching everybody at this point.

“We are seeing more and more people who might not have previously experienced crisis. It’s no secret that people are being priced out of fresh meals.

“The main thing for us is the importance of fresh food and the difference that can make in people’s lives. If you eat well then you are going to be able to cope well and if you don’t eat well then you are not going to be able to make those decisions that can help you in a crisis.

“When you are facing the issues people in crisis are facing and you’re not eating well on top of this then you’re not going to be able to cope.

“It’s a privilege that we can provide those ready made meals for everyone. We’ll be offering fresh soup, a bread roll and a cuppa and a choice of a freshly prepared ready meal to either eat at the hub or take away to eat at home.

“It’s got an important social inclusion element as well, for people who might otherwise slip under the radar when it comes to other support services.

“We have a production kitchen round the corner in Deeside, behind Lidl, and our team of chefs make food from scratch from fresh ingredients.”

For more information on the two new warm hubs, visit Can Cook, Well-Fed’s Facebook page, go to their website cancook.co.uk or call 01244 819543.