The Larder: Good food served with warmth & dignity

“We want to reach as many people as we can who are experiencing food insecurity in our community, and to help them out,” says David Fitzpatrick, Director of Operations at The Larder. 

The Larder is a social enterprise in West Lothian tackling food insecurity, and tackling poverty more broadly through food-centred services. From serving affordable meals to providing cooking and hospitality training, they believe everyone deserves to eat good, healthy food and to have the skills to thrive.

“We’re seeing the gap widen between people who are doing ok and those who are not,” explains David, “and the cost of living crisis is unlikely to go away any time soon. The number of people unable to regularly obtain enough affordable, nutritious food is on the increase.”

The Larder works in partnership with a range of organisations across West Lothian, supporting them with preventing people from becoming food-insecure during challenging times. It could be issues with accommodation and homelessness, long term unemployment, poor health, a recovery programme – regardless of the reason, The Larder is there for anyone who is struggling to feed themselves or their family. 

“Food with dignity is an important part of our ethos,” says David. “We sit somewhere between a food bank and managing on your own. We offer extremely affordable, nutritious fresh food, and we are all about helping people to make their limited resources go further. There are people in full time work who are still struggling to feed their family, but don’t want to admit it. Our cafes are judgement-free, stigma-free places.”

For just £5, you can purchase a freshly-made three course meal and a drink, at one of The Larder’s two cafes in West Lothian. This is their Community Meals programme, through which they are aiming to feed over 100 people each week. The meals are sit-in and  consists of soup, a main, a desert and drink. Not only is the food extremely good value for money, it is nutritious and a much better option than fast food. Community Meals are served at:

• The Larder Cafe in Strathbrock Partnership Centre, 189A West Main Street, Broxburn, EH52 5LH  Mon & Wed at 3:30pm

• The Larder Cafe in Blackburn, Sycamore Walk, Blackburn, EH47 7LG. Tues & Thurs t 4pm 

If you or someone you know is struggling to eat well, come into a safe space and get a good meal, served with warmth and dignity. Everyone is welcome. 

Besides the Community Meal times, the cafes are open for breakfasts, lunches, coffees and cakes. “More than a cafe”, they are welcoming, friendly places. The Larder understands the physical and mental health implications for people affected by food insecurity, so not only can you get a bowl of homemade soup for £1, they offer a sign-posting service for other sources of support.  Each cafe also has a community shop on site selling affordable groceries. The Larder Community Shops are stocked with quality food and toiletries which have been recovered by volunteers from surplus supplies from producers and supermarkets, helping reduce food waste as well as tackling food insecurity. Profits are reinvested into The Larder’s services.  The surplus food recovery is part of The Larder’s environmentally- conscious approach, saving perfectly good food from landfill.

There is more. A bakery at Bellsquarry selling delicious cakes to the public, at Unit 6 Brewster Square, Livingston, EH54 9BJ; The Larder Training department providing training and qualifications in cooking and hospitality; a catering service; anti-poverty campaigning behind the scenes; a relentless push towards their mission to empower the most disadvantaged children, young people, adults and communities to improve their life chances, through access to learning and good food.

The Larder

www.thelarder.org

Call us on: 01506 412819

Email us: communications@thelarder.org

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Article published in Konect December 2025

Author: Helen-Jane Gisbourne