A SOCIAL enterprise which would usually be delivering youth outreach programmes throughout East Lothian is making a different kind of delivery.

Heavy Sound, based in Tranent, has joined forces with other groups, including the town’s Fundamental Foods, to help get food to those in need.

The social enterprise is also working alongside the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).

With conferences and events at the city venue cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, Heavy Sound is partnering them to distribute food from the EICC’s kitchens to vulnerable communities in and around Edinburgh.

Jordan Butler, Heavy Sound CEO, said: “Although we can’t deliver our usual programmes at schools, we have resources and staff who are willing to support in whatever way they can.

“We were already dealing with food poverty and isolation in our communities, something that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

“Low income, mental health, complex trauma and unemployment are factors at play, and the only silver lining has been around how people and businesses like the EICC are pulling together and collaborating in new ways to make a difference.”

Heavy Sound usually uses music, arts and sport to work with young people from a variety of backgrounds.

Last year, the social enterprise revealed plans to work alongside the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Police Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit to transform an old bus into a portable community service, complete with music production equipment, a food prep kitchen and a small hairdressing space.

EICC is also working alongside FareShare during the global pandemic to help vulnerable members of the community.

Marshall Dallas, EICC CEO, added: “With a significant amount of food in our kitchens that we’re unable to use for events, the natural thing to do was to find ways of getting it to the people who need it most just now.

“The work being done by FareShare across the UK and Heavy Sound in Edinburgh and East Lothian is quite staggering; their teams are working tirelessly to get food to so many communities and it’s a real privilege to play a part in that.”