Cornelly Luncheon Club is a heart-warming place; friends catching up with each other over tasty food prepared by volunteers with huge smiles on their faces. The lunch happens twice a week with the whole community welcome to enjoy a three-course meal for £5.  

We enjoy the company. The soup is beautiful, the food is beautiful. You can’t fault it.

June Ball, diner at Cornelly Luncheon Club 

FareShare Cymru provides Cornelly Luncheon Club good quality, surplus food each week which is then turned into a meal by volunteer chefs.  

On average, around 30 people attend each lunch club, with most being of an older generation. As well as providing a hot meal, the club helps tackle isolation and loneliness.  

It’s good value for money, you get a good meal, and you get to meet people as well.

John Gillard, diner at Cornelly Luncheon Club

Liam Turner volunteers each Tuesday, on one of his days off from his professional chef job. Liam says he knows the partnership between the Cornelly Luncheon Club and FareShare Cymru is essential to the community, and one they wouldn’t want to lose.  

Many diners come in, it’s a social gathering for them and there’s a number who perhaps are widowed. It’s vital for a lot of the older diners who perhaps wouldn’t come out otherwise. But without Fareshare, that might not be able to happen.

Liam Turner, volunteer chef at Cornelly Luncheon Club

One of the main reasons the luncheon club uses FareShare Cymru is due to the cost. On average the food FareShare Cymru members receive is 5-10 times the value of the monthly membership fee. Liam says without FareShare they would have to increase the price and he’s unsure whether diners would then attend.  

We couldn’t necessarily go out and buy all the produce you provide us. We couldn’t afford to. We got salmon in last week, which is so expensive we couldn’t go out and buy it.

Liam Turner, volunteer chef at Cornelly Luncheon Club

Liam volunteers because he enjoys giving something back to the community. He also loves the task of making a meal out of surplus food. 

I design my menus around what Fareshare sends us. I’m always thinking ‘what goodies have they sent us this week?’ It sometimes can be a challenge but as a chef I quite enjoy it, because you can see what comes in and design your menus around it.

Liam Turner, volunteer chef at Cornelly Luncheon Club 

FareShare Cymru is proud to help Cornelly Luncheon Club support the community. If you would like to get involved, either to become a member, donate food or volunteer to distribute food, please get in contact.