Berwick's Northern Soul Kitchen feels it is "turning a corner" after positive news this month but more volunteers still needed

Northern Soul Kitchen – which intercepts perfectly decent but unsold food, turns it into delicious meals and then sells the dishes at a ‘pay-as-you-feel’ rate – held a public meeting earlier this year to discuss a survival plan.

It is in the early stages of trying to get more people involved in the running of the business and volunteering at the café alongside director and project manager Millie McRobbie, with positive news over the last couple of weeks on a key position that she is aiming to fill.

And now it has been announced that as part of the Berwick Rangers Community Academy link-up between the football club and Simpsons Malt, the malt company nominated the social enterprise to be the front-of-shirt sponsor for the men’s first team for the 2023/24 season.

Berwick Rangers said as part of its community academy statement that it is “very pleased to be working with Northern Soul Kitchen once again” and Simpsons Malt said on its Facebook page that it was “pleased to be able to offer our good friends at Northern Soul Kitchen the opportunity to be front-of-shirt sponsor for the men's first team, giving Scotland-wide exposure for our local not-for-profit food waste initiative”.

Millie said: “We’re very grateful to be the front-of-shirt sponsor once again and extremely excited because it made a big difference the last time we were featured on the Berwick Rangers strips.”

As for how things are going for Northern Soul Kitchen at the moment, she said an appeal has been made for more hands on deck over the next few months with the demands of summer on current volunteers such as holidays and more family time.

But her update also included the following: “It feels like we are turning a corner and I would like to thank those who have turned up and our volunteers for their continued support.

“I had to put out a fresh appeal on social media about bringing on board a new team member to join myself as co-working project managers but since then, a couple of people have come forward and we’ve arranged to have more detailed conversations about this position.”