That the Parliament congratulates volunteers at Kersiebank Community Centre, in Grangemouth, on accumulating over 10,000 hours of volunteering time; notes that the Kersiebank Community Centre hosts the Grangemouth Community Pantry, GEM in Grangemouth Association and the Grangemouth Community Café and Garden; understands that all groups are run solely by volunteers with support from Falkirk Council’s Community Development Team; recognises that the Grangemouth Community Pantry, which provides a low-cost alternative to food banks and aims to top up main food shopping, has also piloted lunch clubs and cafes with further training for volunteers thanks to the Food Futures Fund; further recognises that the GEM (Growing, Eating and Meeting) in Grangemouth Association aims to grow its own produce and grow the skills of volunteers, offer low-cost or free food in a dignified way, and brings the community together to combat loneliness through volunteering initiatives or activities put in place by the association to benefit the local community; considers that community initiatives such as these are important in the cost-of-living crisis, providing food activity and services, socialising opportunities and improving mental health and wellbeing; congratulates all volunteers involved in the projects on reaching 10,000 hours of volunteering hours, and wishes them well for all their future endeavours for the local community.
Supported by: Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Jeremy Balfour, Miles Briggs, Alexander Burnett, Stephanie Callaghan, Maggie Chapman, Foysol Choudhury, Jackie Dunbar, Annabelle Ewing, Kenneth Gibson, Dr Pam Gosal MBE, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, Gillian Mackay, Ruth Maguire, Stuart McMillan, Audrey Nicoll, Emma Roddick, Paul Sweeney