Pitlochry hotel to provide 100 Christmas meals for foodbank

McKays Hotel, Bar and Restaurant in Piltochry has announced it will provide around 100 free free-course Christmas Day meals for the town’s foodbank, after the event was threatened earlier this year by the closure of its former venue. 

The Scottish hotel will supply three chefs to cook the meals for The Storehouse, Pitlochry’s community foodbank, with lunches served at a new venue behind Pitlochry Baptist Church or delivered to homes in Pitlochry and Aberfeldy. 

The Christmas meal had been in doubt after the Atholl Centre, which previously hosted the foodbank, closed in March due to financial difficulties.

McKays will also donate £600 worth of food to the foodbank in January, funded through proceeds from its charity quiz nights, and is considering providing further support throughout the year.

The hotel will be operating at full capacity for its own Christmas Day service, with chefs and staff agreeing to split their time between the restaurant and the foodbank. Most of the dishes will be prepared at McKays on Christmas Eve, with final preparation completed on Christmas morning.

Shane Naylor, manager at McKays Hotel Bar and Restaurant, said: “We want to give back to our community and help those less fortunate at Christmas time. The layout at the Christmas lunch has changed this year because the church has taken over the foodbank. There is less of a kitchen area so the majority of the dishes will be cooked on-site at McKays on Christmas Eve, with the final preparation on Christmas morning.

“We also want to see how we can help the foodbank throughout the year and not just the one day. There is potential to maybe do three or four events per year.”

Demand for foodbanks has continued to rise across Scotland, with emergency food parcel distribution doubling over the past 10 years, according to the Trussell Trust. Cost of living pressures and reduced donations have left many foodbanks struggling to meet demand.

Following the Atholl Centre’s closure, volunteers from Pitlochry Baptist Church committed to continuing the foodbank, relaunching it in September under a new name.

Helen Kirkwood, a long-time organiser of the Christmas meal who was made redundant when the centre closed, has returned to help run the event this year. Around 70 people have already booked places for the sit-down lunch.

Kirkwood added: “We couldn’t do this without McKays’ level of input. Their involvement has led other businesses to offer support, too. It has grown so much. I think the first year McKays did it, there were 20 to 30 meals. Last year we had 77 sitting down and deliveries on top of that.

“This year we have 65 to 70 booked in already, with deliveries as well. It is so good that it is continuing because it is a really important thing for so many.”

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