The welcome she received from locals left her feeling grateful and she admits she is unsure if her and her son will even return to Ukraine when the war eventually ends because of how they have settled.
Earlier this week, hundreds of people were able to enjoy free tomato soup made to Inna’s recipe and it allowed her to thank the locals who welcomed them.
She said: “The people here are like my family. I need to work to support my son, I like to work, and they gave me that chance. Will I ever go back to Ukraine? I don’t know. I don’t know when the war will stop.”
The Cumbernauld Building Society was behind the initiative and a team based at its brand on High Street handed out more than 300 cups of soup, in the hope recipients would pay it forward and pass on the kindness to others while other volunteers delivered a further 100 to delighted workers at nearby business, the police and town hall.
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Chloe Sheppard, a payroll and accounts administrator, tasted the soup when a delivery arrived at accountant Saint & Co in High Street. She said: “We’ve never had someone deliver soup to us before. It should be World Kindness Day every day. Everybody needs a bit of help and we should all be kinder to each other.”
The Cumberland was highlighting its Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative, run in partnership with FareShare Glasgow and the West of Scotland, which supports community projects to tackle food poverty.
Earlier this year, in June, it produced The Kinder Cookbook which features recipes from food groups it had funded, including Inna’s tomato soup.
She added: “Tomato soup is not a traditional soup in Ukraine, we eat borscht instead, but here people love it. Every time I make it, it’s a little bit different depending on what people tell me. I try to improve it.”
Members of the public calling at the Cumberland’s branch praised the soup and the campaign behind it.
Malcolm McEwen, of Annan, said: “It’s as good a tomato soup as I’ve had. The world could be a kinder place and the Cumberland are doing a great job supporting community food initiatives. Too many people are struggling.”
Elaine Hastie, also of Annan, similarly praised the society’s work on food poverty, adding: “I’ve used the Cumberland for years. It’s so easy to come in and access your money. A lot of banks have closed, which makes it harder.”
Volunteers wearing Kinder Kind of Kitchen T-shirts, aprons and hats handed out soup along with recipe cards and copies of the cookbook.
Ryan McCubbin, the Cumberland’s Cluster Manager for Scotland, said: “Being able to give something back to the community means so much to us. It was exciting to see people’s reactions when they came into the branch. Our customers are really interested in what we’re doing.”
Between June and October this year, the initiative has supported five community food groups in South West Scotland, helping FareShare to serve the equivalent of 62,472 meals and diverting 26 tonnes of food which would otherwise have gone to waste to people in need.
The cumbernauld also donates 1.5 per cent of its profits to good causes. It provided £250,000 to start the Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative in Cumbria and Lancashire and another £250k to expand it into Scotland where it has branches in Annan, Dumfries, Gretna, Langholm and Lockerbie.
