Netherthird Community Centre is holding an online raffle, with funds going towards their food larder.

The raffle was donated by Mary McCormick and her family, who use the centre and saw the hard work that goes on, and wanted to give something back.

It offers the chance to win a two-night stay at Southerness Holiday Park.

Throughout the pandemic, the community centre has been a lifeline for many people in the local community, offering food packages to people who needed them. At the height of the pandemic, workers at the centre were delivering around 60 bags of food per week to people in the area.

Instead of being a foodbank, now the centre has transformed into a food larder, with people going in to buy food from the centre at a reduced rate in comparison to the supermarkets.

Sylvia Reid is the Community Development Manager at Netherthird Community Centre, and she believes the support from this raffle immeasurable.

She said: “All through COVID, we were supporting people all through the community. We’ve now progressed onto a dignified food larder, so the proceeds from the raffle is unbelievably important as we couldn’t run the larder without it being subsidised through other income.

“If I bought £100 worth of shopping, I would see it for about £40 in the larder, so it shows how much support we need to keep this going.”

Sylvia thinks that their workload could increase further as the pandemic ends.

She added: “I think the work we’re doing could still increase as the pandemic comes to an end, so the support we get is extremely appreciated.”

The raffle will be drawn on Facebook Live on May 17, with tickets costing £3 each.

For more information about the raffle, the prize, and to work done at the centre, you can visit the Netherthird Community Centre Facebook page.