Tues 20th September Marri Welsh (Food Train)

Marri Welsh kindly stood in at short notice to deliver her talk on the Food Train organisation for which she is Ayrshire Regional Manager. Marri is an Ayrshire woman and a member of Ayrshire College board.

The much-reported, ageing population brings difficulties for many in getting around and often results in social isolation. Access to food is a fundamental requirement and surveys consistently show that food shopping is a big problem.

Marri described how Food Train evolved after being founded by volunteers in Dumfries and Galloway in 1995. It employed its first staff member in 2002 and has since grown into a Scotland-wide organisation with an active volunteer force of around 900. It provides a low-cost grocery shopping service for over-65’s who are in need of help. Food train is already well established in North Ayrshire with around 30 volunteers and is now being introduced in South Ayrshire.

Marri elaborated on a number of initiatives underway to expand on the services provided by Food Train and to make the service generally more financially sustainable. She expressed interest in the possibility of Food Train assisting in publicising and delivering Message in a Bottle.

Wallace Allan thanked Marri for her professional presentation which was clearly of great interest to all members.