Couple serves up square meals for community during lockdown and beyond

WITH pubs and restaurants still closed up and down the country, a Dobcross couple is on a mission to make sure mealtime is still a treat for the Saddleworth community.

Andy Watson and his wife Vicky launched Square Meals at the beginning of the first lockdown and in the last 12 months it has gone from strength to strength.

For a small price, they deliver high quality home-cooked meals straight to your door that include a delicious range of starters, mains and sides.

It is not the first time that Andy and Vicky have dabbled with the idea of Square Meals after undertaking a similar initiative in the past.Andy explained: “We did something similar to Square Meals few years ago, but we had to stop when me and my wife got full-time jobs.

“Then when the first lockdown hit, we thought it was a good opportunity to start it up again and the response we got was unbelievable!

“The meals we create are basically ready meals, but everything is freshly prepared and delivered to our customers ready to be cooked.”The community-minded couple are also determined to give back where they can and have recently started a campaign where people can nominate vulnerable persons to receive a free meal.

Andy said: “The inspiration behind the nominations was my aunt.

“At the beginning of the second lockdown, we cooked a few meals and delivered them to her.

“It got us thinking about all the other people out there who are struggling and who need support, and we really wanted to help if we could.

“Through our Facebook page, people can nominate whoever they feel deserves to be treated and we whip them up a delicious home cooked meal.“When we first started, we didn’t expect to get as many nominations as we currently do; we’re getting somewhere between 25 to 50 a week.

“Recently someone nominated a nurse at the Royal Oldham Hospital, which was amazing, but we didn’t want to leave out anyone on the ward, so we treated all 25 of them!”

• If you would like to nominate someone you think deserves a delicious free meal, or if you’d like more information about what’s on offer from Square Meals, visit their Facebook page.