Scran Academy 'Scran Van' to tour Edinburgh to beat holiday hunger

Scran Academy in North Edinburgh is set to take their ‘Scran Van’ to various communities over the Easter Holiday to end holiday hunger for vulnerable families and young people.

The ‘Scran Van’ is planning on visiting areas in Edinburgh that are classed as being areas of deprivation.

The van at the moment plans to stop at Granton, Muirhouse, Pilton and Gracemount on different days throughout the holiday.

Scran is a catering social enterprise that supports vulnerable young people to transition beyond the classroom into the workplace and wider life.

The young people are overseen by trained chefs and cooks as they produce top quality food for various purposes.

And the idea behind the latest holiday hunger initiative is to use the van as part of a wider outreach programme for vulnerable young people and families.

At each event there will be a mixture of youth work, free hot meals as well as takeaway meals for families.

Although some events will be closed so that Scran can focus on the various centres and third sector agencies that have partnered with them for the scheme.

Scran Van out and about

The events are being funded by Scran but the social enterprise has stated that the van was a direct result of funding they received to be able to distribute meals during the pandemic.

John Loughton, founder of Scran Academy, said: “During the Easter Holidays we will be out and about with a big programme of events using the van. For us it is really exciting and a good way of getting the Scran name out there.

“A lot of people got to know us for our large scale delivery meals service but this is a project that we hope will be able to look at a collaborative approach to finding solutions for alleviating poverty.

“We also hope that events like ours will be able to help tackle the rise in antisocial behaviour that we have seen across the city.

Connor in the van

“If anyone would like to attend the events or to find out more information then you can reach us through our website or social media channels.”

And through funding allocated by Youth Scotland, Scran has also been able to share thousands of pounds with 19 families needing a helping hand with clothes, food and fuel.

Nearly 50 children were helped by the fund.

A message from the Editor:

Families in Royston at event run by Scran staff member Claire Rafferty

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