Dena’s recipe for keeping pensioners fit
89-YEAR-OLD’S WINTER WARMER FOR OLD FOLK
GARDENING guru and great-grandmother Dena Murphy has boosted her social contribution to the city by devising a ‘Manchester Menu’ for older people – to help keep them fit and well this winter.
Dena – who will be 90 in October – is a force of nature in more ways than one.
Not only does she keep an allotment that allows her to make meals for up to 50 lunch club members every week, she also has the energy to champion community care for the city. This includes looking out for older people, as well as helping former young offenders get back on their feet through her support and work on the allotment. Dena, the chair of New Moston residents’ group NEPHRA, is prolific in her produce and grows so much fruit and veg that she can fill the group’s freezers for a year at a time. Her message is simple: age is no barrier to eating well or being part of the community. Dena said: “There isn’t any fruit or veg that can’t be grown with a little time, effort and attention. “The worst thing older people can do is start to go down the ‘tea and toast’ route, because that doesn’t do anyone any good and it also leads to loneliness,” she added. Now Dena, a former nurse, is offering her own version of a hearty soup, as part of a ‘Manchester Menu’ this winter. The key to the soup is using any vegetable available – apart from cabbage, which ‘just doesn’t work in soup.’ Dena and her NEPHRA counterparts are examples of the city’s move to bring more care into communities. This is the focus of its Local Care Organisation, which launched in April and combines mental and physical health with social care and voluntary sector support near people’s homes. More can be read at www.healthiermanchester.org. Dena’s soup video is also on YouTube.