History

Inverness Foodstuff was developed in response to an increased awareness that the needs of the homeless and other vulnerable groups in the Inverness area were not being met- and that many were isolated and lacked appropriate support. Local churches, agencies and interested groups came together to develop a new organisation that was constituted and received charitable status as Inverness Foodstuff in 2014.

We soon recruited volunteers to collect donated food, to cook and to serve. We served our first meals in February 2015 on two days a week out of the Manna House across the Ness. Increasing numbers of participants led us to strengthen our partnership with Ness Bank Church by renting their wonderful catering kitchen and café areas for sessions. This not only improved our team working and allows us to cater for a much larger number of participants – but also, importantly, has facilitated our expansion into a hub at which appropriate support can be accessed. Since early 2018 we also open on a Saturday afternoon

When Inverness Foodstuff was registered as a charity on 10 November 2014, it had eight Trustees, not one penny in the bank, no staff and no volunteers! Ten years on, in 2024, it has an annual income of c£200k, 2.4 staff and over 80 volunteers and has provided more than 68,000 three-course lunches for the people of Inverness over the 10 years. In addition, Inverness Foodstuff has supported many participants in a range of different ways to improve their health and wellbeing; access the support they need and, in some cases, transformed lives.

We have good relationships with local food businesses that support our work – and also are very grateful for the generosity of the public and funding bodies – their support is so important.

In 2018 we were delighted to be a finalist in the Scottish Charity Awards Celebrating Communities category – and also received recognition as a finalist in Scotmid’s Connecting Communities Awards.