Aberfeldy man Gavin Price and his team provided tens of thousands of meals to elderly people during the pandemic.
The Feldy Roo campaign began on March 19 2020 to support people who needed it within 25 miles of Aberfeldy.
By August that year, Feldy Roo had delivered almost 40,000 meals.
Meanwhile, Feldy Roo gave Aberfelty people the chance to form new intergenerational friendships and connections.
And Gavin praised locals’ community spirit as word of the new initiative spread.
Feldy Roo’s rapid growth
Feldy Roo began with 10 free meals on the first night.
And when news of the service spread, demand quickly grew until they were delivering 400 meals a day.
Gavin said: “It was a fantastic feeling. We went out to 10 houses and it doubled and doubled again.
“The backing we got from the community – it spread like wildfire.
“It grew from something that started off from one pub.
“I think that community spirit is so prevalent around Aberfeldy.”
Local eateries teamed up
Gavin, who owns The Fountain Bar, teamed up with nine other local eateries to provide the food.
Others involved were: The Watermill, The Chillies Indian Restaurant, The Three Lemons, Ericchel’s Thyme to Eat, The Old Filling Station, The Tay Café, The Inn on The Tay, and Ballintaggart.
Gavin said: “It started the Thursday before lockdown.
“I have four pubs in the area and we just thought we’d use up all the stock so made a few meals for the over 70s who were going to be isolated.
“We had other businesses in the town wanting to get involved.
“And lots of volunteers came forward, which meant we could expand the routes and within two or three weeks we were doing two meals a day.”
Intergenerational friendships
But for the volunteers and recipients of the meals, Feldy Roo was about more than just the food.
It provided locals with the chance to meet new people and allowed new friendships to blossom.
Gavin said: “And there were the friendships made across the generations.
“More so than the meals, it was the social interactions. It was heartening to see people coming together.
“It has left Aberfeldy in a better place than before.”
