The Larder Has Been Shortlisted for TWO Social Enterprise Awards

The Larder has been shortlisted for not one, but two awards in the Social Enterprise Awards Scotland. The Larder are honoured to be amongst some fantastic organisations shortlisted for Social Enterprise of the Year and Social Enterprise Champion.

The Social Enterprise Awards Scotland are a real opportunity for Social Enterprises such as The Larder to showcase their incredible work within the Social Enterprise Sector. These awards showcase the agility, ability and active role this sector can play in building places, supporting communities and making a positive impact on our environment and wellbeing. Those shortlisted represent the incredible work that organisations have done in one of their toughest years.

We are an ambition-driven, innovative social enterprise who use food as a catalyst for social change. We provide training for young people on employability, life skills, health and wellbeing all alongside learning to cook. Our cafes provide space for work experience and social food projects interrupt the national standard response to food poverty by providing nutritious meals and a safe space for those experiencing food insecurity; creating access to quality food in a dignified way.

Like many social enterprises, we faced potential closure as face-to-face working and trading across the world stopped. The pandemic tested us as a team and despite the fact that no job was safe, we did not hesitate in doing everything we could to continue our services. The team moved tuition online, where possible, and in response to the closure of cafes, redesigned our food poverty project, Catalyst Kitchen, to a delivery model. Despite the many hurdles, The Larder had a staggeringly successful year; supporting 199 young people in training and delivering over 100,000 meals to people experiencing food insecurity. It is for this reason that we have been shortlisted as our dedication, passion and drive for social change has proved life-changing and through strong leadership, they have grown to be the most successful training provider in West Lothian; in one of the world’s most challenging years.

Angela Moohan, CEO at The Larder said: “It’s very humbling being nominated for these awards as it recognises the hard work of the whole team who have worked incredibly hard to support so many people in West Lothian living in poverty and experiencing multiple and complex barriers. Our team have been innovative and developed new partnerships to ensure that we have been able to continue our support. Being a finalist for these awards has given us even more encouragement to continue developing our projects and working with our community.”

You can check out the other shortlisted organisations by heading to https://socialenterpriseawards.scot/announcing-the-2021-social-enterprise-awards-scotland-shortlist/