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Meals-on-Wheels
The very first meals-on-wheels were produced by an inspired member of the Women's
Voluntary Service in the Second World War, and taken down the road on a pram, and one
imagines without the slightest knowledge that a nation-wide service would grow from these
small beginnings. The W.R.V.S. are still very active in this field wherever the membership
and organisation is strong enough to support a voluntary service. We count ourselves
fortunate that in the northern part of the borough the W.R.V.S. staff a small kitchen and
completely run a meals-on-wheels round on our behalf. In many ways this is the ideal arrangement.
Individually prepared meals can of course be made to look more attractive and because
the kitchen is placed in the centre of the area it serves delivery times can be kept shorter.
Local authorities who can depend on the W.R.V.S. to man a series of such kitchens throughout
the area of their responsibility are indeed fortunate, but in a situation where staff need to be
employed and paid,the cost of the enterprise must be taken into account. It is more economic
to produce the maximum number of meals from as few kitchens as possible.
Although by far the greater part of the meals-on-wheels service is organised and the
work undertaken by members of the staff, invaluable help is given by a member of volunteers
who are not affiliated to any particular organisation. At the time of writing this report there
are 50 volunteers who accompany the drivers and deliver the meals to recipients. Many of
these devoted people have been doing the work for a long time, one for 28 years, and as they
grow older and decide to "retire" it is quite a problem to recruit replacements. Time after
time in the last year or two the service appeared to be on the point of collapse owing to lack
of volunteers, but usually the vacant spaces on the rota have been filled at the eleventh hour
and sometimes members of the staff have been detached from their ordinary work to fill the
gaps. On occasions the Social Responsibility Centre has been able to supply volunteers in
an emergency. This organisation provided a succession of volunteers with private cars during
the strike in the Autumn when local authority transport was not available and thanks to this
magnificent effort not a single old person failed to get their mid-day meal during the six
weeks of the dispute.
Luncheon Clubs
Volunteers also assist at some of the Luncheon Clubs, of which there are six in
various parts of the town. The Meals-on-Wheels Service provides for the housebound, but the
Luncheon Clubs are intended to serve the senior citizen who is lonely and socially isolated.
For many such people the visit to the Luncheon Club is often the focal point of the day.
The membership of one of the Clubs was analysed recently, and the results are
interesting:-
Total Membership 67
(men 31)
(women 36)
Of this total: 49 are widows or widowers
16 are single members
I married couple
Age range of members 70-92 years
(3 special exceptions who are younger)
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