The first ‘warm space’ to be open daily in Perth and Kinross has been established in Methven.
The old lounge area of the Methven Arms pub is now available to the public from 12pm to 10pm until at least the end of March.
It provides a warm venue for locals who may be struggling to pay heating bills amid rising costs.
Residents can also enjoy toast, tea, coffee and soup.
They are additionally offered ‘warm packs’ that contain a blanket, hat, scarf, gloves, hot water bottle and an insulated cup and flask.
“They can fill the flask up with soup and tea and take it with them,” said volunteer Sarah Fergusson, a member of Methven and District Community Council.
The project is funded by a £5,000 grant from Perth and Kinross Council’s cost of living community fund.
Elsewhere in the county, members of Kinnoull Parish Church have been given a £2,500 grant from the same fund.
They are holding special events in their hall every Tuesday and Friday afternoon for older people to enjoy warmth, company, food and drink.
Comfy furniture, free internet and games
The old lounge at Methven Arms is advertised not as a warm space but a warm community space.
Comfy chairs, sofas and tables make it an inviting venue.
And it contains a mini library with board games and jigsaws.
For three successive Thursdays in November a council adviser will visit the facility and offer advice on benefits and welfare.
There are also plans for crafts and a knitting circle.
Free internet is another attraction, with one person spending two hours on Monday – the first day of the scheme – working on their laptop.
Warm space visitors from ‘all walks of life’
Already a dozen people have used the space and this number is likely to increase as winter sets in.
It will be staffed by a dozen volunteers as well as other helpers on an ad-hoc basis.
Sarah believes rising bills mean such a facility is badly needed.
“In the past few months our volunteers have observed a decline in people’s wellbeing both, mentally and physically,” she said.
“All walks of life are affected. It is not just families but average working people and the retired.
“People are known to skip meals and go days without eating or putting their heating on and we aren’t even in the middle of winter yet.”
Landlord giving back after lockdown help
She is keen to sing the praises of pub landlady Susan Quinn, who is leading the project.
“The community has been so good to me since I came here from Arbroath five years ago so this is just a case of giving something back,” Susan said.
“We have had so many volunteers offering to make soup and come in for a few hours. It is such a good community.”
Susan is particularly grateful for the support of the Methven public during the Covid lockdowns.
“They were always checking in, checking I was alright,” she said.
“When we were allowed to reopen only for trade outside they all came along.
“It was November and it was freezing cold and they all came and supported us.”
She also thanked those who donated sponsorship money from going sober towards the materials for a shelter for the terrace area.
This was generously installed free of charge by retired local joiner Alan Sievwright.
Man, 91, one of first customers
Susan says “everybody is talking about” the cost of living.
“They are saying how difficult it is going to be this winter,” she said.
“A lot of my customers are quite elderly and it is quite scary.
“On the first day we had a gentleman who is 91 and another gentleman doing a course who studied in here because he is wary of putting the heat on at home.”
The pub is still known locally as The Goth due to the days it was operated under the Gothenburg Public House System, which saw profits going back to the community.
Susan currently leases the business from the Methven Arms Hotel Society.
Conversation