A New Hub, A New Home

Our Hub is here! After months of construction, weeks of uncertainty, and plenty of other challenges, our Ayrshire Food Hub building is finally here! Everyone involved with Crossroads Community Hub has been putting in a huge amount of work for many, many years. With Ayrshire Food Hub now being established, this building represents a real triumph of dedication, creativity, innovation, and passion.

The building at Crossroads, just outside Hurlford, is home to our café, farm shop, and event space. We also have a meeting room and a development kitchen available for start-up businesses and fledgling cooks, bakers, and chefs.

Our Journey

Back in 2011 after Crossroads Primary school was demolished, a group of locals, encouraged by clear support from households in the surrounding area, began making plans to create a focal point for the community. Through various projects, surveys and means of support, the idea continued to develop.

Over the following years, grants were earned and partnerships formed, all while listening to what the community wanted. Fresh produce, the support of local suppliers and a helping hand to celebrate what the area had to offer – all keystones in what would make up Crossroads Community Hub and Ayrshire Food Hub’s objectives.

The Darvel Hub and Our Other Work

As excited as we all are to get in the new building, we have to acknowledge our humble Darvel Hub for being home to our hard work for so long. Tens of THOUSANDS of meals prepared and distributed from that unassuming little kitchen! The Darvel Hub put us smack bang in the middle of one of the communities that we looked to engage with, and this allowed us to get closer to the people we hoped to serve well.

All of that good work and service will continue! Our Edible Beds project, work in local polytunnels and cooking activities will remain an important aspect of our efforts to offer access to fresh food, a base knowledge of how it is cultivated and what benefits it offers.

What the New Hub Offers

Our new building allows us to work cohesively to produce and promote some of the best food available in Ayrshire.

The farm shop will be a larder for all of Ayrshire! We will stock staples, sweets, savoury treats, and some unique and delicious produce sourced from our doorstep.

A coffee shop that has a true sense of community. Somewhere to grab a bite for breakfast, an ideal spot for brunch, and perfect for lunch with friends or family. Not only will we be using the finest Ayrshire ingredients, but we will uncover and promote Ayrshire’s food heritage. Our menu will include family favourites and dishes that bring back childhood memories.

Our meeting room offers a space for individuals in the community to conducts meetings, interviews or chats that require a dedicated, private, professional space.

A flexible event space is also available within the Hub. Perfect for group activities, functions and meetings, it can provide a hassle-free space for all kinds of events.

The development kitchen will be there for any aspiring cooks looking to hone their skills, grow their start-up business or impart their knowledge to others in classes or demonstrations.

We hope that you will all be able to celebrate with us (restrictions permitting!) in our new building. A wee roll, a cup of coffee and a slice of cake are in order!

Christmas in Ayrshire

Never before has there been a better reason to shop local. With travel restricted, small businesses under pressure, and a need for communities to pull together, this Christmas is the year to shop local, shop safe and shop confident.

We are all about celebrating the best of what Ayrshire has to offer. Farm-fresh produce, handcrafted sweets, homemade baking, organic tea and coffee, incredible seafood from the west coast of Scotland… you name it!

With the launch of our hampers just in time for Christmas, you know you will be helping support local producers when they need it most. Packed full of delicious products, these hampers make the perfect present for the foodies in your life. Parents, in-laws, siblings, friends, or even a treat for yourself!

So what’s included?

Truffles, marshmallows, biscuits, cheeses, chutney, teas, coffees, hot chocolate, smoked salmon, free-range eggs, freshly baked bread, oatcakes, and potato scones. These hampers are something a little bit special for the households you care about.

You can order with a private message on Facebook or email info@crossroadshub.org.uk

Supporting Local at Christmas

In shopping local, you will be supporting hardworking, responsible, local producers and small businesses. In fact, you’ve probably bumped into them at some point around town! As well as being affordable, delicious, and great to gift to others, there’s something a little bit special about offering something that you know has been carefully crafted right on your doorstep.

Whilst businesses big and small have suffered in recent years, there is still plenty of life left in the local high street. It’s amazing the things you discover if you really look around in your home county. We are lucky enough to be surrounded by great food, creative crafts and innovative minds that are just waiting to be discovered.

Support local this Christmas and you’ll be supporting Ayrshire, and all of the amazing things it has to offer!

20,000 and Counting

We have hit 20,000 meals! That’s TWENTY THOUSAND meals that we have prepared and distributed in our catchment area. We reach those who are at danger of being isolated or unable to access healthy wholesome meals.

Our Darvel Hub has been at full tilt throughout lockdown. Our incredible community food workers have been preparing, storing and distributing thousands of nutritious meals.

Of course, without our army of volunteers this would have been impossible. Heroes every one of them. They step up to help their community and take on extra work to make sure everyone is looked after.

Obviously we won’t be stopping our food production just because we’ve hit this huge milestone. Our work will continue, and we will continue to listen, engage and serve the local area as best as we possibly can.

Everyone can agree that 2020 has been a really challenging year. But for some it has been even more worrying, uncertain and dangerous than it has for many. There are others who, even before COVID, faced isolation, food poverty and lack of easy access to fresh, nutritious food.

For the Future

What 2020 has hopefully revealed to all of us is that we have the ability to really make a difference to other people’s lives. A kind word, a quick checking up on a neighbour, a friendly gesture, a token of gratitude or even a trip to the shops for someone else’s bog roll and bread! It can all make a difference in a HUGE way.

We are immensely proud of our work at the Hub but we won’t be resting on our laurels or getting complacent. We want to be able to be counted on to provide what’s needed.

This milestone of 20,000 meals (and counting!) is an achievement that lets us know we are contributing something significant to the community that we serve. We hope to carry on that good work, and to help others do their own good work alongside us!

Address

Crossroads, Hurlford
Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
KA1 5JQ

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We have been successful in being awarded a grant from the Ayrshire Rural & Islands Ambition Fund (ARIA) for maintenance. Our plan of action as to how we will spend the maintenance fund, is needed repairs to small areas of the timber floor in the Café to prevent trip hazards and repair damaged areas to the walls of the Café caused by chair backs and hangings on the walls to freshen up the appearance of the Café and the environment for our customers to enjoy even more.