MP delivers meals on wheels in Petworth
Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert was in Petworth on Friday (15 October) to help deliver meals on wheels to elderly residents in the town.
Mr Herbert was supporting volunteers from the WRVS during a week of activities to mark National Meals on Wheels Week which ran from 11th to 17th October.
The MP met with project manager Donna Brown and about 20 local volunteers at the WRVS kitchens in Petworth before helping to deliver meals to residents in Orchard Close and Lund House in Wyndham Road.
From its base at the former Herbert Shiner School, WRVS Petworth delivers around 130 meals a day to vulnerable, housebound clients in Midhurst, Petworth and Wisborough Green through to Pulborough, Storrington and Washington.
Mr Herbert was told that the WRVS are always on the lookout for new volunteers who are willing to give a few hours of their time each month.
Although the service is subsidised by West Sussex County Council, it is the volunteers who deliver the meals and carry out "safe and well" checks. By providing hot meals during the week and frozen meals for the weekend, the service helps elderly people to remain independent in their own homes.
Donna Brown said: "It was very kind of Nick to visit our kitchens and join us on our rounds. It really gave the volunteers a boost to know that their efforts are appreciated. Our volunteers do a wonderful job and I hope we will encourage more to join us. It's a cliché I know, but the rewards are endless. Sometimes we are the only people that a client would see from day to day."
Nick Herbert commented: "I was delighted to support Meals on Wheels Week in Petworth on Friday. It's a wonderful service and a great example of the Big Society in action. I'm very grateful to everyone who gives up some of their spare time to support it. But we do need more volunteers and I would encourage anyone who can spare just three or four hours each month to come forward. Just ten new volunteers would make such a difference. Meals on wheels is a lifeline for so many elderly people in West Sussex."
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Notes for Editors
1. Further details of the Meals on Wheels Service can be found at http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=10031.
2. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for the Meals on Wheels Service in the Petworth, Midhurst, Wisborough Green, Coldwaltham, Pulborough, Storrington, Ashington and Washington areas, please contact Project Manager Donna Brown at WRVS Petworth, Meals on Wheels, Herbert Shiner School, South Grove, Petworth, West Sussex GU28 0EE (telephone 01798 343773). WRVS Petworth manages 10 rounds: 4 in the Midhurst and Haslemere areas, 4 in the Storrington, Pulborough, Coldwaltham and Ashington areas, and 2 in the Petworth and Wisborough Green areas.
3. National Meals on Wheels Week was organised by The National Association of Care Catering (NACC). For their website, visit https://thenacc.org.uk/.
4. Nationally, the WRVS is responsible for delivering over six million meals to more than 31,000 older people each year. In West Sussex, there are thousands of clients who receive meals, either on a permanent basis or on a temporary basis if they are recovering from illness or have recently left hospital.