Community Curry Night Success

A very successful Community Curry Night hosted by the Community Hub team took place in the kirk hall at Cargill-Burrelton, Woodside on Friday 17th May.

With almost 80 guests dining on a variety of home cooked curries to suit everyone’s tastes, the Community Hub more than met their goal of funding their purchase of Fairtrade rice for the “90kg Rice Challenge” and raising money for their next project.

The Community Hub bought 90kg of Fair Trade rice from Just Trading Scotland’s “Rice Challenge”; this is the amount of rice a farmer in Malawi has to sell to pay for a child to go to secondary school for a year. By selling on the rice, the Community Hub planned to cover their costs before embarking on their next planned project. An anonymous donor however has paid for the rice in its entirety, and the proceeds from the Community Curry Night and all rice sales will now go towards the purchase of a defibrillator for Burrelton and Woodside villages.

Ian Riches, Treasurer for the Community Hub, said: “We are absolutely delighted that the night was such a huge success. Following the recent upgrades to our kitchen, including the purchase of a new induction hob and double oven thanks to a grant from the Perth and Kinross Community Investment Fund, we can now cater for events just like these.

“With donations still coming in, and thanks to the donor who very generously paid in full for the rice we bought, we have raised over £600 to go towards funding a defibrillator which we believe is vital in our growing village.”

Lynne Mitchell, Youth and Community Worker at the Hub said: “We had a great night and there was a fabulous atmosphere; it was so lovely to see folks having the opportunity to meet, eat, and enjoy each other’s company. Our Community Café on Tuesday lunch times has been going from strength to strength and through events like these the Community Hub aims to provide a welcoming, friendly environment where old and new friends of all ages can meet.

“We regularly hear that people can feel isolated, even within small communities, perhaps because of the changes in society and in the shops and services available. The Community Hub team aim to combat loneliness and isolation whilst also encouraging a feeling of community and connection between people. We are always delighted to welcome folk to our café and events and look forward to building on the curry night’s success in the future.”