Glenkens Food Month celebration secures £5,000 in Scottish Government funding

A celebration of food in the Glenkens is set to take place in the autumn.

New Galloway Community Enterprises has secured £5,000 in Scottish Government funding for Glenkens Food Month with a similar amount coming from the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership.

Enterprise community engagement worker Sam Rushton is working on the plans with support from Helen Keron, the education and community engagement officer from the partnership.

Sam said: “It’s great that we’ve got this funding and it’s being match funded by the Galloway Glens project. We are putting together a calendar of events and we’re looking at holding it from mid September to mid October.

“It will include things like foraging, sharing recipes and the importance of supporting local producers.”

(Jim McEwan)

She added: “We’ll also be helping them to set up their own small businesses and we hope to have a community ceilidh. It is about encouraging community and sustainability and hopefully encouraging tourism as well.”

A total of 23 projects across Scotland shared in more than £100,000 in cash from the Holyrood Government’s Connect Local Regional Food Fund.

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: “These grants are being provided in order to stimulate the growth of these great local food initiatives and encourage more people to appreciate and enjoy our amazing local produce.

“By doing so we help our domestic markets to grow, support local economies and provide consumers with access to healthy, locally-grown produce.”