A DAIRY in Drumoyne has secured funding to help feed local kids with free packed lunches until August.

Ridgeway Dairy on Shieldhall Road have been handing out free packed lunches since lockdown began, with owner Jim Creavey saying that the shop has always been there as a helping hand for the community.

He said: "We've been here for 15 years and ever since we opened, we've only charged school kids 50p for a roll in the morning and at lunch.

"It's always been really important for us to make sure that kids in the scheme aren't going to school hungry, and so we try to make sure that they have food always."

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Funding was given by Feeding Britain, a national food charity, and secured with the help of Drumonye Community Council Chair, Lisa Devlin, and local MP, Chris Stephens.

Jim said: "They really couldn't have been anymore help, I'm so thankful.

"Drumoyne isn't an affluent area. Even with funding coming in, it mainly goes to the central Govan area and Drumoyne is ignored quite a lot.

"We need to make sure that someone is looking after the kids of the scheme and making sure they're not going hungry."

The packed lunches, which Ridgeway have been preparing since the start of lockdown in April, includes a fresh filled roll, a yoghurt, a piece of fruit, a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar, with Jim saying that they have went from handing out 296 lunches in April to over 1500 in June.

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He said: "We've seen more and more people come to get packed lunches from us as time goes on, and I think there was a bit of embarrassment at the beginning, but there isn't anything to be embarrassed about.

"We have a family with two autistic boys who said that thanks to the lunches, they've finally been able to get them to eat properly, that was lovely to hear.

"People think that they need to be on family tax credits or something to get the lunches but they are free to the local kids no matter what your situation is."

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The lunches are prepared in the dairy and handed out in the convenience shop next door, which is also owned by Jim, to help with social distancing rules at 11am - 2:30pm everyday.

Jim added: "It's about giving back to the local community.

"We've been here for 15 years and we have almost become a wee community hub - we've not got the community centre anymore so I think people really appreciate it.

"With this new funding, we're looking at being able to keep feeding local kids for the next few weeks, until August hopefully."