Bangor City Council has agreed to open its town-hall doors to enable student volunteer cooks to serve up weekly free hot meals to those in need.
To launch the lunch initiative on 30 September, the council has also added an initial £1,500 from council funds towards buying necessary kitchen equipment.
The ‘open house’ hot-meal facility will be open every Saturday from 3pm to 6pm at the City Council’s Penrhyn Hall situated close to the bus station.
Deputy City Director Llinos Fon Jones said: “Unlike other services offered in Bangor like some food-banks or food-voucher schemes, this will be a ‘no questions asked’ facility, with no means testing and no intrusion into your circumstances. The university students behind the concept simply want to feed and welcome those in our community who might appreciate at least one hot cooked meal a week. The City Council was delighted to support the initiative.”
Food – which will also cater for vegetarians – will be prepared offsite for table service at Penrhyn Hall. The Council’s cash contribution will be used to purchase large catering hot-plates and other equipment which can also be used for other functions tied to hiring the city hall.
Ben Chandler of the Students Union UNDEB said: “Hopefully our menus and standards of cooking will be far removed from the idea of a soup-kitchen and certainly no city council Beadles like Charles Dickens’s Mr. Bumble refusing bigger portions! We plan for some really good nutritious, filling and tasty meals to satisfy all palates and age groups. And yes, we promise no questions asked and no expectation that customers will need to tip the waiter or help out with the washing-up afterwards.’
Llinos Jones added: “Yes, overturning the no free lunch saying is true, but the initiative also backs up that other saying: put your money where your mouth is. And that’s exactly what the City Council has done. We’re putting our money into some very deserving and hungry mouths.”
