LINKS Scottish-themed upcycling session

The LINKS after-school club supports families in the Eyemouth area to share healthy cooking and other energy-saving ideas.  

Last week we took part in a Burns upcycle and creative session, having some delicious oat cakes with cheese and berries for snack. It was lovely to see our families return and take part. Everyone worked together, catching up and seemed to have a fantastic time! We used tartan scraps from local upcycling charity ReTweed to make colourful animal collages and sashes. We met the newest member of the team who will be helping Charlene over the coming months, this is Jessica who many of the families already know. We have also started a LINKS charter taking ideas from both adults and children on what they think will help us to run safe and fun sessions. 

We also had fun trying out some Scots dialect! We have our own special words for some things here in Eyemouth – what we eat with the haggis is known as a ‘bagey’, not neeps! 

As often happens naturally at LINKS, we had some ‘Climate chat’ about the importance of reducing waste, both with food and other resources such as clothes. The LINKS project has a focus on using surplus or local food. 

Here in Eyemouth we are fortunate to have groups such as Berwickshire Swap which passes on unwanted clothing. 

Everyone is looking forward to the upcoming Burns’ supper session, with Burns’ supper recipe bags going out to 60 more families. We had to hunt high and low to round up enough haggis! One story about haggis is that it was made as a way of using up the easily perishable parts of the animal after a hunt. It is made using the cheap but still nutritious cuts of meat which would otherwise be thrown away, which fits with the LINKS project perfectly! 

Have you seen the LINKS Winter cooking guide? It has lots of energy-saving tips, ideas for using leftovers and tasty recipes! 

What and how to cook in winter – LINKS Eyemouth 

 

The LINKS project is currently funded by Scottish Government Climate Engagement Fund, Scottish Government CLLD funding and the Drone Hill Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, administered by Foundation Scotland.