Outcry as Meals on Wheels comes to the end of the road
IT has been a lifeline for the elderly, the frail and the vulnerable since it was founded during the Second World War.
But now the Meals on Wheels service is to be axed by the end of the year.
The initiative was set up by women volunteers to bring food direct to the door of those who needed it.
Such was the passion and commitment of the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) that it was dubbed ‘the army that Hitler forgot’.
The service flourished in the post-war years, as volunteers brought meals – and crucial human contact – to the lonely.
Established in 1943, the RVS provided a lifeline to those who were unable to feed themselves. But after more than 75 years, the service is on the brink of folding.
In recent years, the number of Meals on Wheels programmes in the UK has dwindled from 80 to only 15.
In Scotland, only seven schemes are still in place, with all expected to cease by the end of the year.
Meals on Wheels services in Moray, Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire have already closed.
Many people took to social media to express their dismay at the news.
One posted: ‘For some the Meals on Wheels person may have been the only soul they saw for the whole day. Surely something needs to be done?’
Age Scotland chief executive Brian Sloan said: ‘For people who receive Meals on Wheels this can often be a lifeline service, not only providing a nutritious meal but vital social contact which helps to combat loneliness and social isolation.
‘As a society we should invest in services such as this which do so much good and allow older people to live at home independently for as long as possible and help prevent admission to more costly residential care homes.’
RVS spokesman Sam Ward said: ‘The trend has been for local councils to withdraw funding of this service due to their budget constraints. In other cases, councils have moved to a commercial provider.
‘With so few services left it has become harder to sustain those remaining services since much of the infrastructure we used to rely on to support Meals on Wheels has depleted. This is why we’ve taken the decision to not renew contracts.’
She added: ‘The well-being of the older people we support is our priority and we are working to ensure they have all the information they need to provide them with the necessary support.’