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Our Community

PureMalt are proud to support charitable initiatives within our network.
Read the blog for the latest updates within our community.

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Our Community Kitchen exists to reduce social isolation for people of all ages and abilities by bringing together the local community of Haddington and Lammermuir to enjoy good hearty fresh food and allowing friendships to form.  OCK runs from Haddington Bowling Club and has organically developed. We also work with our local Area Partnership around holiday hunger for pupils whose families are in receipt of a low income. 

We normally bring up to 90 people together each week, however, we have stopped our usual way of working to respond to this horrendous coronavirus. We are still continuing to change people’s lives through food, but in a very different way.

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Haddington Rugby Football Club has a proud history.  We are delighted to have PureMalt as our primary sponsor, particularly with their strong industrial heritage within the town.

Building rugby teams is multi-faceted. The support that PureMalt provides to Haddington RFC enables us to ensure that our senior teams have strips to wear, that we can ensure adequate changing facilities to members of all ages and genders, as well as for community clubs and schools. PureMalt has enabled us to ensure that the next crop of players is developed by enabling coaches to be accredited, as well as providing funding for our Youth Development Officer.

The difference PureMalt has had on the club is not only based upon financial investment. PureMalt has become a part of the Haddington RFC family. Whether attending games, or by recognising success by selecting and presenting “Man of the Match” awards, PureMalt has always shown a keen interest in the success of the club. We look forward to this continuing long into the future, with Haddington RFC and PureMalt remaining at the heart of the community.

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The Club currently has around 270 players, with around 70 volunteers, who are either Coaches or Committee members. The Club has a development pathway for players, from 5 year-olds in our Soccer School, through to adults in the 1st Team. We have boys’ and girls’ youth teams, playing 7, 9 & 11-a- side football, in both the Edinburgh and East Lothian Leagues. The 1st Team play in the East of Scotland League and have recently been accepted for a Full Licence, by the SFA, which will enable them to play in the Scottish Cup.

The Youth teams play out of the fantastic facility at Whittingehame Drive, which includes a Pavilion and floodlit 3G all weather pitch. The 1st Team are based at Millfield, on the enclosed floodlit grass pitch.

PureMalt have generously sponsored our 2009 youth team since 2019, purchasing home and away kits for the team. This has been a huge help to the team financially and we fully appreciate the support that our neighbours at PureMalt provide.

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PureMalt are proud to support and sponsor local team 'Five in a Row'. They will be raising money for the charity 'Reverse Rett'. The team of 5 will make up 1 of 30 teams participating from around the world in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Rowing Challenge, crossing from La Gomera to Antigua.

NOVEMBER 2020

OUR COMMUNITY KITCHEN
  • For the duration of November, the charity has been able to provide over 100 meals per week to it's participants on a Tuesday and Thursday each week. The charity continues their kindness calls for their isolated members to ease the effects of isolation with conversation and companionship.
  • 'Our Community Kitchen' eagerly await news of funding to begin work on their community garden. It is planned that stage 1 of the garden project will commence before Christmas, stage 1 will involve the setup of the groundwork and construction for the garden. OCK is encouraging people to volunteer to get involved in their garden project by volunteering their time in support of the setup of the garden.
  • Whilst East Lothian moves into tier 2 'Our Community Kitchen' remain unable to operate at the capacity they did pre-Covid-19. 'OCK' can set up 5 socially distanced tables 1 day a week. This reduced service is expected to continue whilst the risk of covid-19 is still strong. It is expected to take at least until summer 2021 for 'OCK' to be able to return to normality. The return to meeting in the local bowling club for a warm meal and company is fundamentally important to the lives of the many members of the community that 'OCK' serve. During the spring months of 2021, OCK will open two days per week to provide a socially distanced space for people to reconnect and to establish friendships over food. This will be a leade into coming around the table once again.
  • 'Our Community Kitchen' launched its reverse advent calendar initiative. The reverse advent calendar requests the generosity of the public to donate a single food item on each day of advent. These items will then be sent to Knox Academy School, who add to the donation and will then be sent to the food bank with some of the food being sent to OCK participants at Christmas time.
  • During the festive period, OCK will open on Christmas day to provide hot Christmas meals delivered to their participants at home. People will be able to enjoy a hot meal, a small bottle of wine (generously donated by Shiva and Shanthi Kumar at Haddington Wines and Whiskies), a gift bag containing small Christmas gifts of; chocolate truffles, apple chutney, Christmas pudding, friendship bracelets made by local brownies and homemade Christmas cards (made by the local primary school children). Over the course of the 7th and 9th of December, the OCK volunteers will dedicate time to decorating the gift bags that their members will receive and to make baubles. Participants of OCK will receive all the afore mentioned Christmas goodies delivered by Santa Claus.
  • Participants of OCK who already face the issue of isolation continue to face extreme circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This increased difficulty makes isolation an important issue to tackle and the value of the work carried out by OCK can truly be seen.

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Written by Henry Elderfield

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