Community cooking for southsiders to share

Community Renewal set up stall on Queens Drive yesterday (Wednesday) for the first community canteen, where a two or three course meal will cost you a rather reasonable £2 (or £1 for little diners).

Director Bob Marshall told The Extra: “We wanted to do something specific; to bring the people of the southside together over a shared meal.

“It’s open to everyone, whether you’re young with a family, elderly or just popping in on your lunch break from work — for the whole, diverse community of the southside.”

The community canteen can welcome 60 people at a time, and includes a kid’s corner and live music, as well as a different menu every Wednesday — with yesterday’s visitors tucking into butternut squash soup, a choice of steak pie or curry and rhubarb crumble.

The prices are set to keep costs affordable for all — but Community Renewal welcomes anyone who wants to pay more for their meal, to give back to their neighbours.

Bob explained: “It’s on once a week at the moment, but we hope that if it takes off, we can expand.”

Volunteers are also welcome, whether it’s washing dishes, playing music or offering to prepare food.

Bob added: “There are a lot of things going on in the southside at the moment — pop-up restaurants and so on — but we’re certainly not trying to compete with the cafes.

“Ours is a different concept, and I hope it’s complementary to everything else going on.

“We’re not expecting people to come, eat and go away again. If they want to, that’s fine, but if they want to hang about afterwards, that’s what the canteen is all about — a community asset, where everyone feels welcome.”

The welcome sign is out at 180 Queens Drive on Wednesdays, 12-2pm — to find out more, email [email protected] or find The Community Canteen on Facebook.