Meals-on-wheels volunteers step into breach

So when North Yorkshire County Council decided to stop providing a subsidised service in April, saving itself £136,000-a-year, vulnerable residents across the county were understandably alarmed that their hot meals service would come to an end.

As has been the case with more than a dozen libraries across the region, it is volunteers who are now stepping in to fill the breach.

Across North Yorkshire, local charities who had previously been contracted by the council to deliver its meals service have agreed to continue to provide their own wherever possible.

“It’s a service we feel is incredibly important,” said Christine Broadhead, chief officer of Age UK North Craven, which is now running an independent community meals service in Settle. “For people who are too ill or unable to cook for themselves, it means they get a hot dinner every day. Otherwise, they simply may not get one.

“It’s also important as a ‘looking’ service – we get to know the people and check they’re all right. And they enjoy having a chat with the volunteers – for some of them it might be the only person they see all day.”

Age UK has a team of volunteers who deliver the meals to elderly people across the area each day.

“The main difference from before is that it was subsidised,” Ms Broadhead said.

“Previously it was more of a nominal payment, but now we have to ask for a more realistic amount. It’s gone up to £3.50 per meal.”

The extra fee covers the funding gap left by the council’s withdrawal and the fact that the charity now has to rent kitchens to cook the meals rather than using local authority premises.

The key issue now is whether enough people will continue to use the service at the added cost.

“We won’t really know until close to the end of the year whether we can make it self-sustaining,” Ms Broadhead said.

“We need to attract as many people to use it now as possible. It’s available to anyone – even if it’s for a few days while a carer is away, for example.

“And it’s not just customers we need – it’s volunteers to deliver the meals. We’d love people to get in touch if they can.”