A vital lifeline for the elderly and lonely in the Colne Valley urgently needs more volunteers and a new co-ordinator.
Slaithwaite Meals On Wheels has been running since 2011 when it was famously set up during a TV programme by Hairy Bikers Dave Myers and Si King.
It operates only on Wednesdays with the meals cooked and distributed by 1.30pm but it means the world to those who receive the meals.
The current co-ordinator, Kim Soothill, has done the role for seven years since taking over from Pat Bowden but now needs to step down for family reasons and the service needs a new co-ordinator or joint co-ordinators along with more volunteers to help with the administration and banking.
The banking takes just a few hours each month and the administration around an hour a week.
Kim said: “We want the service to continue and flourish but it’s time for a new co-ordinator although two people could share the role. We need the new co-ordinator and volunteers in the roles by the end of the year.”
Slaithwaite Meals On Wheels now runs out of the commercial kitchen at Slaithwaite Community Centre and distributes around 36 meals every Wednesday, primarily to people in their 70s and older.
It operates in Slaithwaite, Linthwaite, Marsden and Meltham.
There are eight delivery routes so the volunteer deliverers each serve two to three people and go out in twos so while one is making the person receiving the meal a drink the other can be chatting to them.
“This social contact is as important as the meal,” said Kim. “Often our volunteers are the only people they see and talk to each week. The service we provide makes such a big difference to the quality of people’s lives. We serve really homely food that they love.”
Slaithwaite Meals On Wheels has around 24 volunteers. The roles include phoning clients up on Sundays to tell them what the meal will be on Wednesday so they can choose from the menu and take special requests, shopping for all the food on Tuesdays, cooking the food on Wednesday mornings and then delivering it from just before noon.
Volunteers are especially needed as a co-ordinator or joint co-ordinators, someone to sort out the money and banking – people are charged £5 per meal – and administration volunteers who make sure the right meals go to the right people and are all bagged up and ready to go when the deliverers arrive at Slaithwaite Community Centre at 11.30am every Wednesday.
Community-spirited Huddersfield company Cummins Turbo Technologies always sends two or three volunteers every week to help deliver the meals.
Cook Shirley Haigh from Meltham said: “Come and join us as you make lots of friends and we have a good giggle.”
Cook Pam Linton, of Armitage Bridge, added: “I’ve been volunteering for 10 years now and I’ve made some wonderful friends here.”
The favourite dish is braised beef with mashed potatoes and dumplings and other top choices are chicken in a mushroom and cream sauce, lasagne, corned beef hash and cottage pie.
Puddings include bread and butter pudding, crumbles, homemade scones and jam or sponge cakes.
The portions are large so the meals often last people for a couple of days.
Anyone who can help should email Slaithwaite Meals On Wheels at slawit.mow@gmail.com
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
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