Meals on Wheels are a vital service

Local campaigner Dr Charles West has spent a morning with WRVS 'meals on wheels' to experience first hand what the service means to its recipients.

Dr Charles West said:

"As a GP I have always regarded the Meals on Wheels service as a vital part of a caring society. Having been out with some of their volunteers and joined them as they delivered meals I am more than ever convinced that stopping the regular delivery of hot meals would be a tragic mistake.

"The Meals on Wheels service is far, far more than just a meal. The volunteers who deliver a hot lunch may be only people that the client sees in a day. The friendly contact is invaluable, but the reassurance that the client is all right is important to all of us. If Meals on Wheels were replaced by a fortnightly delivery of frozen meals, many people would be quite unable to cope. Some would need to go into residential care; others would need daily visits as part of a care package. It would almost certainly cost Social Services more in the long run.

"The WRVS has over 100 volunteers in the Shrewsbury and surrounding areas and delivers in excess of 135 hot meals a day. Hot meals are delivered on five days a week. The service provides a nutritious meal, which is safe, and ready to eat. It provides a friendly contact, and a valuable, and unobtrusive way to check that some of our most vulnerable residents are safe."

Photo Dr Charles West with Miss Wright receiving her meal.