‘It’s for everyone in the community’

Asda Community Champion Liz Arbuckle has a croissant with Jackie Bonner, organiser and founder of breakfast club, Elevenses

WORDS RACHAEL STILES PHOTOGRAPHS EUAN MYLES

Our Asda Community Champions support their local communities in one of the most important ways: with their time. Many of our people go above and beyond to keep things running, like Asda’s Liz Arbuckle from Toryglen in Glasgow who in 2022 was nominated for a Scottish Woman’s Award. She chats to Jackie Bonner, founder of Elevenses, a breakfast club that brings people from all walks of life together. Elevenses is held at their local centre, Community Base.

Jackie: I’ve worked for Community Base for about 14 years. In 2003, the building we were using was going to get knocked down, so we found another one nearby, but it needed a lot of work. It was flooded, there was grass growing through the carpets… We were there at weekends, working hard to fix it up and get in.

Liz: That was how we first met, I started helping out with the painting and cleaning. We’ve known each other a while now.

Jackie: Back then, we ran food banks at Community Base, which you helped with. When that was coming to an end, we asked everyone what they would like to see instead. They wanted a place to connect with others, because of Covid and the sense of isolation people felt afterwards. So, Elevenses was born. It gave people the chance to come back together and talk over a cuppa and a breakfast roll.

Liz: Two years later, Elevenses meets every single week on Wednesdays. You’ve made it grow from strength to strength, Jackie.

Jackie: Well, I think it’s important to make an effort. The Elevenses group has a huge impact because quite a few of the people who come are older and some live by themselves. One of the ladies who comes, her mood is sometimes quite low, but she always goes away with a smile on her face. People come for different reasons. Some people might have no meals in the fridge, or they come so they don’t need to put their heat or the lights on in their homes. We usually have around 20 to 25 people every week, and not just families, it’s open to everyone else in the community too.

Liz: I recently helped you to secure an Asda Foundation grant of £1,000 to support Elevenses with energy bill costs as a result of cost-of-living increases. We donate goods out of our monthly budget if there’s an event on. At the Burns Night event in February we supplied all the shortbread, but you had the tables all decorated, tartan ribbons around the chairs, and had arranged haggis and tatties for everyone. Every Wednesday I’ll take tea, coffee and biscuits – and just offer time. That’s worth its weight in gold because when you’re giving your time, you’re also meeting people.

Jackie: And having you on board has made a big difference to the people who visit.

Liz: I am quite outgoing. I like to speak to everybody and really get to know them all, and we all get on so well together.

Jackie: You’ve definitely become part of the group. Everybody knows who Liz is!

Liz: I think you’re amazing for all you do. You do everything to such a high standard with a little funding. I like to support events in any way I can, and I always like to dress up. That’s part of my job. I think that’s why I’ve had the job for such a long time…

Jackie: There was that Halloween when you didn’t realise we were having a party. You went out to your car and came back in full costume!

Liz: A wig and a full 1970s outfit – I’ve got everything in my car.

Jackie: You’ve really supported us. It’s not just about the financial support, you’ve given us so much in other ways. If there’s ever anything we need, you’re my first port of call, Liz.

Liz: I’m a jack-of-all-trades.

Get involved!

To find out about our Community Champions and how you can get involved, keep an eye on the community board in store. For more information on how the Asda Foundation works and is helping to support communities this year, visit asdafoundation.org