A Glasgow ice-cream man has started to flog groceries from his van to help vulnerable people in his community.

Andrew Feeney was inspired by the multi-purpose ice cream vans he saw in the city while growing up which delivered goods to local people “when it became clear that we weren’t the only people that didn’t have easy and regular shop access”.

The 40-year-old is now based in the Isle of Skye, driving the van in Kyleakin and regularly sells food and household items to locals.

Glasgow Times: A Glasgow ice-cream man has started to flog groceriesA Glasgow ice-cream man has started to flog groceries (Image: Newsquest)

Andrew said: “There is a wee wife here in the village that has become dependent on the van and we’ve made sure that we’ll be able to get to her each day.

“She has message access to ourselves where if she needs anything we can get it for her or if she needs a run over to the shop, I have a car and can take her over.”

The van had only operated “a handful of times” before the shelving inside the van suffered water damage and one of the plastic ice cream cones was damaged during Storm Isha.

Andrew, a mechanic, said: “It’s really the last thing we needed after everything to get the van up and running.”

After setting up a GoFundMe and sharing the news with his 20,000 followers on his Facebook page Andrews’s Journey, Mr Feeney raised over £800, more than enough needed to repair the van.

He explained that it was the inaccessibility of shops on the Isle of Skye and the ice cream shop hybrid of his youth in Glasgow that inspired him to establish his business on wheels.

He said: “Me and my wife had to get a taxi from the island back across to the mainland to get milk and it was £22 for that.

“We had the discussion on bringing what’s known as a ‘Glasgow ice cream van’ which is an ice cream van-come-grocery van, and bringing it to the island.

“Growing up in Glasgow we didn’t have shops readily available the way they are today or there just wasn’t as much access and the ice cream vans were a lifeline.

“I hope [the van] becomes a lifeline in the Highlands the way it has in Glasgow over the generations.”

He added: “In all honesty, I’m a granny’s boy.

“My granny brought me up to not just think of myself but think of others around me.”

Mr Feeney, a men’s mental health advocate, hopes that eventually the van will also boost locals’ mental health if they are struggling.

He said: “I’m hoping that it becomes a double ended sword once it becomes established in the community and people know the work that I do with mental health, if people are struggling then they’re going to use the ice cream van not just as a grocery shop but also that point of contact for someone to speak to on a regular basis.”