Veterans’ charity receives game meat donations

A charity established to tackle food poverty has just delivered more than 1000 meals with game meat to heroes in need.

The Country Food Trust has assisted the Coming Home Centre, a charitable organisation supporting local veterans and serving military personnel in Glasgow.

The Coming Home Centre aids veterans with mental and physical health, homelessness and employment among other issues. It also provides between 700-1000 meals a month to those it looks after, an initiative The Country Food Trust plans to support over the coming months.

The trust’s pheasant casseroles got the seal of approval from some of the centre’s veterans including Lede, a former improvised explosive device search dog trained in the United States and his handler in Afghanistan, Will.

It cost £90,000 to train Lede to sniff out IED’s – he’s more than worth a good meal!

When Will left the British Forces and Lede was retired from service, the two of them were both reunited by the Army in a heart-warming tale.

Through the help and support of the Coming Home Centre on his return home, Will has been able to find a job and has received the onward health care and food care he needed.

The Country Food Trust has produced more than 100,000 meals for people in food poverty in the UK since its inception in 2016 and ultimately aims to be able to feed at least 250,000 people annually.

Veteran Will and the dog he handled in Afghanistan, Lede, a retired explosive device search dog

Its nutritious meals include a pheasant casserole and a partridge curry devised by chef Tim Maddams of the River Cottage.

The food is sealed in long-life pouches which have a 12-month shelf life and do not require chilling. Preparation can be as simple as three minutes in a microwave.

The Country Food Trust’s chief executive Tim Woodward said: ‘We set this charity up to feed as many of the 14 million people living in poverty in the UK as we could.

‘Personally I could not be more delighted to support Adam Edwards and the Coming Home Centre, an extraordinary charity doing wonderful things for veterans in Glasgow.

‘We support many charities but there is no doubt that supporting our veterans is incredibly important to us and I hope we can continue to support Lede, Will and their fellow veterans significantly in the coming years.

‘We have sourced meat from the countryside such as pheasant and partridge which is high in nutritional value, low in cholesterol, affordable and plentiful to put in our meals.

‘Thanks to Tim Maddams, we are able to turn these often overlooked meats into delicious and nourishing dishes to provide to those in need of a good meal.’

Adam Edwards, deputy operations manager at the Coming Home Centre said: ‘We’re very grateful to the Country Food Trust for its generous donation. A good meal makes such a difference to all of the people we look after here.

‘When our veterans have been properly fed, we are able to really focus on providing them with the life-changing support they require.’