A COMMUNITY project has been launched to help alleviate food poverty in Clackmannanshire.

Sauchie Active 8 officially opened a soup kitchen on Friday, March 3 in a bid to ensure everyone has access to a hot meal.

The new initiative will be run alongside the group's weekly drop-in foodbank which was set-up in 2012 to help those most in need.

The service has been kick-started in response to the struggles that people are facing and will offer soup and bread at Sauchie Hall every Friday.

The group is using money received from the Scottish Government's Fair Food Fund which will also help it promote healthy eating.

Sandra Gruar, chairperson of Sauchie Active 8, said: "We are very pleased to have received almost £16,000 in funding from the Scottish Government and would like to thank Craig Miller for his efforts in working on the funding application and we are grateful that he was able to come along and officially open the soup kitchen.

"Our food bank is under increased demand as more people find they are in need of food parcels, we would like to ensure everyone that the food bank is still open every Friday and you will now have the opportunity to have a bowl of soup, with bread, at the same time as collecting a food parcel."

Craig, who was joined by Clackmannanshire central councillors Derek Stewart and Graham Watt for the launch at the local hall last week, highlighted the work of volunteers.

He said: "It's unfortunate in 2017 that we have the need for soup kitchens.

"However, thankfully because of the hard-working community there are people there to ensure people don't go hungry."

The soup kitchen will run at the same time as the foodbank, which operates on a non-referral basis, between 11.30am and 1.30pm.

Those who are collecting food parcels will also receive a pack with ingredients, and a recipe card, in order to replicate the soup of the day at home.

The government's £1 million Fair Food Fund was established to help tackle poverty and inequality.

Sauchie Active 8 received funding as part of the second allocation and was one of 16 projects sharing £350,000.

Earlier this year, while announcing the successful applications, communities secretary Angela Constance said everyone in Scotland should have access to fresh and healthy food.

She said: "Our ambition is to help community initiatives to support people in a dignified way and try to address the underlying causes of food poverty, and it’s encouraging to see people and organisations coming together to deliver programmes that reflect this."