Big hearted owners of West Lothian cafe open doors for Christmas soup kitchen

Big hearted owners of a West Lothian cafe are opening up on Christmas day to feed locals.

Choc ‘N’ Cheese in Armadale will be running a soup kitchen from 1pm until 3pm offering hot meals and drinks to those who are struggling to afford Christmas and need a helping hand.

Owners Samantha Macaulay and Dawn Herd will be dishing out hearty dinners and their legendary cupcakes. The pair also hope the service will provide a bit of company to anyone who is alone this Christmas.

After giving away five Christmas meals to people in need last year Samantha told the Evening News she wanted to do even more this year. The mum-of-three says it’s a chance to show her sons, 12 and nine and seven-year-old daughter the importance of helping others.

“I just feel I want to help, plus I think it’s good for my kids to see just how lucky they are. They also want to come in on Christmas day to help, so I think this is a great thing for them to be able to see that’s helping people and giving is what it’s really all about. It will be great for them to see that others don’t have as much and I think that will make them appreciate things more."

Once she’s shut up shop for the day Samantha will be back in the kitchen at home to cook Christmas dinner for her own family.

She’s been overwhelmed by support since she announced the soup kitchen. She added: “Folk have been very supportive. It’s been overwhelming but really great.”

“I actually could have done a lot more, because I’ve had a lot of people asking what they can do to help and if they can give donations. It’s the first year doing this and we don’t know how much we will need. I don’t know how it will go and how many people will actually come, so I said this year I’d just do it off my own back. But next year we can look at taking donations. In a way it’s sad that this kind of thing is needed but it’s been so lovely to see the community come together to help each other.”