Xmas at Loaves and Fishes is always a busy time with over 2000 registrations and over 700 big red xmas sacks to fill for children of all ages.

We rely so much on the generosity of our supporters and sponsors to make this happen, and also to our fabulous volunteers who go above and beyond to make Xmas a special time for all our customers. Below is a photo of two of our supporters dropping off a huge collection of toys.

It relly isn’t easy to put into words what it is like in our community hub during December so we made up the video below where our Chair Lesley Davidson walks you through the hub and explains everything that is going on.

Last week at the Greenhills Community Hub, we opened our doors for our annual Back to School Event — and what an incredible day it was.

Families came in to choose from a huge selection of school uniforms, jackets, shoes, and sports kit, all donated by the amazing people and businesses in our community. Thanks to your kindness, children across East Kilbride will be starting the new school term feeling confident, comfortable, and ready to learn.

 

Rows of school shoes in every size meant families could find the right fit without the worry of cost.

Our rails were stocked high with everything from shirts and skirts to blazers and jumpers — many brand new, and all in fantastic condition.

 

There was something for every age and every school — and the smiles said it all.

 Thank You to Everyone Who Made This Possible

We are so grateful to every individual, family, and local business who donated items or funds to make this event happen.

Special thanks to the businesses who went above and beyond by providing new items, sponsoring supplies, or hosting collection points — your generosity means more than you know.

Thanks also to our volunteers, who worked tirelessly to sort, prepare, and display everything so that families could shop indignity and without pressure.

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It’s taken me a full 24 hours to recover enough to tell you all about yesterday! I was a tired wee ginger burd right enough last night — and honestly, we all were over here at L&F.

But man… it was worth it.

Our launch of Loaves & Fishes at the Greenhills Community Hub was just… AMAZING.

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🎀 Ribbon Cutting, Red Carpet & Real Emotion

People were queuing to come in. The Aitken family came, had the best time, and I hope they were proud of us. The ribbon cutting was incredibly emotional — a real moment for so many of us.

Our brilliant neighbours from WNWN came along too. The speeches, the red carpet, the whole fancy business… Thank you, girls. That meant the world to me.

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💷 A Surprise Success

This wasn’t meant to be a fundraiser. But somehow, we raised £2,100!

So many lovely people came just to say hello. So many truly interested people came to learn more. And so many people essential to our survival showed up — generous, regular contributors who finally got to see how they literally feed people, every single day.

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🏡 A Hub Full of Heart

We showed everyone around. We all spoke with as many people as we could. We shared our passion and love for what we do — and we meant every word.

Do you want to know the two most important reasons yesterday was a success?

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1️⃣ Everyone left smiling.

Full of food. Full of cake.

And — I hope — full of the warmth we so desperately want to share.

2️⃣ Our volunteers left me speechless.

They were non-stop.

Working, helping, chatting, laughing.

Sharing their own L&F stories. Living proof of what this place really means.

As I said in my wee talk — it’s all them. It’s all you.

Yesterday, it was all of us. Together.

Thank you for making all their hard work worth it.

All the late nights. All the sleepless nights.

I hope it shows in these pictures. I really, really hope it shows.

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🙏 From Our Family, to Yours

Thank you for being part of the Loaves & Fishes family.

Together, we CAN keep giving people #fulltummieswarmheartsclearheads.

Together, we are a community.

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🍟 A Special Thank You

Huge love to Kraken Chippy – East Kilbride for working for free and donating all profits from the day. You are heroes.

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📸 I’ll be sharing more photos and thank-yous in my next post. But for now, let’s leave it here…

Let’s end with the volunteers,

with you,

with the donors,

with our family.

Let’s end on family. ❤️