Big hearted restaurateur, Scott Learnmonth of Rug Bug Benny’s in Montrose, is asking customers to nominate deserving friends and loved ones.
An Angus restaurant that provided meals for vulnerable people during lockdown has launched a Christmas appeal.
Scott Learnmonth, who runs Rug Bug Benny’s in Montrose, is planning on giving more than 100 ready to heat Christmas dinners to people who need them in the town and the surrounding area.
And each will be delivered on the big day itself accompanied by a bottle of beer or wine.
Scott said: “We don’t really know where we are going to be for December so we are doing ready to heat meals for sale and every year we do them for vulnerable people. We did it last year and we are doing it again this year.
“Last year we did about 40 or 50 last year, but the start of the first lockdown between March and June we did about 3,000 meals for care home, NHS staff and everything else and now with Christmas on the horizon we are doing it again, but this time with Christmas meals.”
Nominations sought
Restaurant customers can also get involved by nominating people they believe deserve of would benefit by receiving a meal on the big day as part of the business’s Christmas appeal.
Scott continued: “We have got our Christmas letterbox which is open until the 1st of December. We have our recommendation cards in the restaurant and people can pop in and add the person’s name and address and we will deliver them on Christmas morning.
“It’s roast beef and turkey, a bit of each, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, new potatoes, gravy, stuffing and veg, just what you would expect at Christmas and they get a bottle of beer or a small bottle of wine with it.
“The Christmas dinner meals that we are selling are selling really well for us so far and most of the people who are buying those are giving us a recommendation for a family member of friends who can’t go out, can’t meet or are isolated. It’s not just vulnerable people it’s also for people who can’t go out and meet family as well.”
Massive blow
“It has been brutal, it’s been awful. We had advertised to reopen on Thursday of last week thinking we were 8 o’clock with alcohol sales, then on Tuesday we are told 6pm with no alcohol.
“For us that’s a massive blow as we are 70% wet and 30% food sales and we took a massive hit from that. That was really unexpected for us, we thought we would be 8pm with alcohol. Going into Tier 3 to be honest I didn’t really want to open, but we had already taken a few bookings so I honoured those.
“We are waiting every Tuesday now to see if we are going to move up to Tier 4 or back to Tier 2. This three days’ notice is really difficult. We have to our drinks order by 12 noon on a Tuesday and Nicola’s announcement at 12 o’clock. If we order drink we have too much stock, if we don’t order drink we don’t have any stock. It’s a nightmare, it’s awful!”
If you would like to nominate someone for a ready to heat meal from Rug Bug Benny’s, you must do so by December 1.
