Willie Stirling

The Larder’s Unsung Hero is Willie Stirling, our Head Chef. When the pandemic hit in April 2020, like many Social Enterprise’s, The Larder was forced to pivot our services to ensure we could continue to support those in need. Throughout this process, Willie was at the helm, supporting his team, creating menus and cooking up meals that were served and delivered to over 900 people experiencing food insecurity in West Lothian. As restrictions relaxed, he reverted to his Chef Trainer position, supporting young people experiencing multiple and complex barriers and additional support needs, to become independent through learning the life skill of cooking. Willie lives our values daily by showing compassion, using food and cooking to transform the lives of young people, supporting his colleagues to develop their confidence and skills and working with other agencies to get the most for all those young people and adults that we support. Willie's commitment to our organisation, our vision, our learners and our beneficiaries is the reason that he is our Unsung Hero. We believe that Willie deserves this award of Unsung Hero for the dedication and life-changing work he has done within the West Lothian community.